The Wolf And His Moon
by BrutieBoots
Summary: As of 2017, Teddy has it all. But when he meets a mysterious girl on his first auror assignment, he becomes entangled in a dark web of lies far too close to his heart. Unfortunately for the duo, two things cannot stay long hidden: the moon and the truth.
1. The Case

**Author's Note:** Bah, I am getting annoyed that now the first line of posts on is not centred because of the share options on the side. I think I might just skip a line for each post so things remain in their proper orientation. XD Before I continue, I just want to clear things up, Teddy Lupin is _not _a werewolf, this is addressed in the final Harry Potter book and by Rowling as well. Also I want to thank emodinosaurX3 for the characters she donated to me, particularly Miss Anya-Jeanne Crafting. Oh, and thanks to her once more for inspiring the little information paragraph below.

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

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><p><strong>01.<strong>_ The Case_

The train carriage quivered as it bounded along its allocated lines, the screech of the wheels skidding along the metal bars echoing through the coach, the passengers it held unfazed by the racket. A pungent stench clung to the decaying train, wafting over those who entered at each calling point, electrifying their minds into vertigo before they slowly regained their composure, wrinkling their nose and beginning their futile search for a seat, squeezing themselves next to strangers just to take the weight off their feet.

A pair of eyes watched them, their irises forming a curious crystal blue colour, the inquisitive wizard unfamiliar with the popularised muggle mode of transport, apart from a single scarlet train that was reserved for the wizarding population.

"What are you looking at?" A rotund man snapped at him lividly, catching his interested gaze.

Ted Lupin quickly jolted from is thoughts, averting to stare to the wide, clouded over window that separated his single seat from the one opposite where his companion sat, legs folded over one another as his visage was hidden behind a gargantuan newspaper, its stirring photographs paralysed in the presence of the muggle passengers.

Ted, or his preferred alias _Teddy_, sighed to himself, propping his elbow up onto the window ledge before snuggling his slanted jaw onto his curled up fist. An untameable mop of ebony locks fell about his fair features, clinging to the nape of his neck, shadowing his narrowed eyes as they became pale ashen with boredom.

His whole purpose on the pitifully mind-numbing train was not quite so tedious, it was the first of his field training to become a member of an elite unity in the Ministry of Magic to identify and capture dark witches and wizards, to become an auror. At this thought, his mind slowly began to wonder to the previous night, his overactive imagination once again taking hold, something all of his comrades insisted he had inherited from his late mother.

The auror headquarters had been quiet that evening, the few members that were not in the field busying themselves about their open cubicles silently. Teddy walked through the office, his eyes scanning the many photographs of dark wizards, clippings of the _Daily Prophet_, and maps covered in scribbles that were sprawled across the walls of the hall. He was greeted with curt whispers, easily recognised him his frighteningly intense first year of training, many believing he would not return for his second, yet there he was. No one, not even Teddy, had expected the head of office to be such an extreme mentor when he was allocated to the aspiring auror, but Harry Potter was always one for surprises.

As Teddy tapped his fingers along the towering wooden door that led to his godfather's office, a booming voice welcomed him from within.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Teddy," The familiar masculine voice stated. "Please come in."

He obliged, shuffling into the room and gently pressing the door shut behind his tall, athletic figure. The office was circular with dark crimson walls decorated in many bookcases stuffed with thick, leather-bound tomes, the uncovered walls holding Victorian windows encased in charcoal drapes. A gargantuan desk faced the door from the far wall, the head of the office perched upon the plush, ebony chair tucked behind the desk to address the dark armchairs that lay before the desk.

Harry's almond-shaped, startling emerald eyes darted up from his desktop to meet Teddy's confused features, his eyes not having lost a single shimmer of their brilliance even after many years that had dotted his face in a few slivers of wrinkles. His jet-black tangles were combed neatly to the side, fully exposing the famed scar that ran along his forehead, his eyes tucked behind his renowned round-rimmed glasses. He gestured towards one of the empty armchairs, inviting Teddy to take a seat.

After settling into the chair, feeling it mould to his slender figure, Teddy ran a hand through his dark tousled tangles before glancing up at Harry once again, awaiting his orders. His godfather simply curled the edges of his lips into a kind smile, which only worried Teddy further, knowing him well enough to know it meant a drastic change was about to head his way.

"I am sure you are wondering why I summoned you here this evening, I'm sorry if I interrupted your summer plans." Harry chimed, but Teddy simply waved off his words.

"You should know me better, I rarely have _any _plans." His smile grew as did the pit in Teddy's stomach, pinching his lips shut after his reply.

"That is perfect," He exclaimed, pressing his hand onto a fallow-coloured file upon his desk, pushing it towards Teddy. "Then you will have time to begin your second year of auror training, more specifically, your field training. We have been getting reports of a dangerous creature and dark magic from a small, rundown village in the south west of London. I would like _you _to assess the situation, then identify _and_ remove the threat,"

"This will expose you to not only the gravity of the work carried out by aurors, but it will also present you to familiarise yourself with other departments in the ministry, such as the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Teddy felt a smile form on his own lips, grateful the many opportunities that had come his way after his father had been deprived of any in his lifetime, rarely able to hold down a profession with his _condition_.

"Thank you, Mister Potter," He replied, using the head's formal alias in the official office setting. "I would be glad to take the case."

"Please, in my office you may call me Harry," Harry stated before arching his eyebrows at Teddy. "Are you sure you want the case? Even if it means cutting your summer holidays short?"

"Were you not the one who told me on my first day that aurors _never _get a holiday?" He joked with a grin, finally relaxing, expecting something far worse to be thrown over him by his mentor.

"You _have_ got a point there," Harry stated with a chuckle under his breath before lacing his fingers together, placing his chin on the platform they formed. "In that file is all the information we have on the case, good luck and you can come to me if you have any questions."

Teddy climbed to his feet, snatching the file from the tabletop and tucking it under his arm before bidding Harry Potter fair well. As he reached the threshold, peeling the door open, his godfather's words halted him on the spot for a mere moment.

"And another thing, Teddy, the village is predominantly a muggle one, meaning you will have to travel there on a train, a muggle one at that."

Teddy still recalled the dread that filled his body at those words, before the feeling became overwhelmed with curiosity. He rarely found himself in such close quarters with muggles, especially on _their _transport. However, after boarding the train at the first calling point and snatching a pair of seats, Teddy soon felt boredom flood over him for the several hours long journey.

"You should really stay out of your mind, Teddy," The voice of his comrade broke his rerun of the night before. "Your hair is jumping all over the place, you're lucky the muggles are too busy trying to find a seat to notice your colouring."

Teddy blinked, returning to reality as his hair became charcoal once more, his eyes now matte black with irritation as his glared at his closest friend. Gunner Macmillan lowered his newspaper, folding it neatly before stuffing it into the pocket of his plain straight-leg jeans that were held to the hips of his athletic build with a single ebony leather belt, leaving his jeans sagging slightly about his rear. His well-built torso was compressed into a white shirt, surprisingly untarnished by the poorly kept carriage. His skin was darker than Teddy's, although still fair, only holding a slight tan that was rapidly fading. His shaggy dirty-blonde locks fell loosely about his neck, waving slightly with shorter bangs brushing across his forehead, framing his big, dark amber eyes that were full of life as they smiled at Teddy, despite the physical manifestation being absent from Gunner's plump lips.

"Gunn, are you just here to irritate me?" Teddy retorted with a roll of his darkened eyes.

"Not really, that just happens to be an added bonus," He teased, a crooked smile now forming across his lips, one that many girls dubbed _cute_, particularly during their years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Mister Weasley said I could accompany you, you are not the only one aspiring to be an auror. Plus you get all the best opportunities, your mentor is the bloody head of office for god's sake."

"So you are going to mooch off of me, as per usual," He muttered with a playful groan. "It's like being back at school."

"Except I don't have to stand around and wait for you to stop snogging the face off of Victoire whenever we pass her by," Gunner replied with a smirk, folding his arms over his chest and arching his eyebrows at Teddy. "Maybe _she _is what you were thinking about, no wonder your emotions got so _excited._"

"If you're ever wondering why you don't have a girlfriend, I'm pretty sure I've figured out why." Teddy returned with a smirk of his own.

"Damn it, you are so lucky, Teddy," Gunner admitted, his charismatic grin not faltering. "You have a fucking gorgeous girlfriend, who you don't even have to be around all the bloody time because she's at school, you're going to make an auror in record time _and _you have the famed Harry Potter as a mentor _and _a godfather. This might just be the first time I have ever wanted to be you. Then again, it all comes at the price of having _that _face."

"_This _face is the one dating that girl you just called _fucking gorgeous_," He challenged. "Plus maybe if you applied yourself to your work a little bit more instead of being the life of any _and _every party, you might get more things done."

"I get _enough _things done; they are just girls you don't approve of." He joked smugly, although it was true to some degree, his outgoing nature did attract _many _girls to him, the good, the bad, and definitely the ugly.

"I'll make sure to advertise that skill of yours next time I speak to Harry, Gunn."

"Are you kidding? Advertise it to Victoire, I'd be more than happy to take some of her friends off of her hands."

Teddy shook his head at his friend as Gunner winked at him good-humouredly, laughing under his breath. Despite the disagreements the pair had, both easily recognised one another as their best friends along with the other duo that completed their quartet. It always amused Teddy that he had a quartet just as his late father did. Harry had given him a gargantuan photograph album when he was a child, filled with moving photographs of his parents and their companions, including his father's quartet of friends that involved Harry's own father who massed when he too was an infant.

It had always been a small comfort to Teddy that in a way he still had a connection to his parents and the deeds they did to support the downfall of the Dark Lord, but also he had someone who had experienced the same loss as he did and ensured he grew up in a loving environment. He owed his godfather so much, he worried he could never repay him.

After a few more exchanges of jokes and comments about the muggle surroundings that even Gunner himself was not too familiar with, despite his position as a half-blood, the duo arrived at their destination, climbing off of the coach with their messenger bags in tow. The station was nestled in the centre of the town, surrounded by a few local shops and pubs that Gunner was immediately enticed by.

"I think I might make a visit to that pub," Gunner beamed, rubbing his hands together mischievously before catching Teddy's irked glare. "What? I am trying to support the local economy."

"I thought you were here to train with me." Teddy muttered suspiciously.

"I'm here for moral support," He corrected in a matter-of-fact tone. "Plus all you are doing today is interviewing those in the reported area; all I'll do is slow you down."

"Fine," Teddy caved. "But I won't be able to do the work for you when you're a bloody auror. I'll come back and find you at the pub when I'm done."

"Oh, and don't take too long," Gunner added with an impish smirk as Teddy rolled his eyes once again. "I invited the other two down to hang out."

"Brilliant." He mumbled sarcastically before bidding Gunner fair well and continuing his journey on foot to where the reports of bizarre occurrences were coming.

Teddy stuffed his hands into the pockets of his ebony jeans as he walked, the wispy summer breeze dancing over his fair flesh gently, threading through his dark feathery locks. His torso was hugged by a dark button-down top, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms, his wrists decorated by various bands and ties. A black belt as slipped through the hem of his jeans, the buckle decorated by the profile of a howling wolf whilst a pair of ebony and ivory pinstripe suspenders hung loosely from the hem, instead of in their appropriate position slipped around his shoulders. He kicked his dark shoes across the dirt road as cottages opened up before him, made of weathered bricks, with an air of decomposition about them.

He groaned mentally to himself, digging through his bag, retrieving his parchment and a sleek pen, preparing for a long day. A few additionally files sat in his bag regarding the only wizarding families present in the village as after he had collected reports from the muggles, he would have to turn his attention to them.

Finally, after collecting all of the notes of the sightings reported, Teddy made his way towards the final house, ascending the mound on which the cottage sat, standing out bizarrely against the others as it sat upon the edge of the town. An iron fence ran the perimeter of the house; trapping in the unkempt garden is if it were a prisoner, left to become an overgrown graveyard of trampled weeds. The cottage itself was rundown, its aging bricks littered in scrapes, falling mercy to decay. It was a single story, apart from a pair of windows settled into the low roof, creating an attic. Its windows covered by dingy drapes preventing anyone from staring inwards and a single door sat on the front of the house, its mahogany-coloured wood dulled in colour, worn-out over its many year of use.

As Teddy slipped through the iron gates, mustering up all his strength to tear them open, he brushed a now ivory tangle of hair out of his eyes as he was unable to shake off the eerie aura that exuded from the house, his innards shuddering in utter disgust. If he was not a brave man, he probably would have slinked away, excusing himself from the sinister household, but much like his mother, he was _too_ brave.

He smoothed out the shirt about his torso before curling his hands into a fist and rapping his knuckles against the broad door, hearing his knock echo through the corridor concealed within. When no response came, he repeated his knock twice more before the sound of rustling brushed over him, washing away his suspicions that no one was living there–although he was not surprised, he certainly would not want to live in such a hellhole.

The door heaved open with a shriek of its hinges, a waft of steaming air suddenly rushing over Teddy, smothering his senses with the heated scent of a bubbling cauldron, the stench of familiar ingredients electrifying his nasal passages. Teddy suddenly felt his eyes widen in disbelief, his eyes tingeing deep lavender as his mop of hair became dark violet at the breath-taking figure that stood before him.

He towered over her figure, guessing she stood at the most 5'3", a pitiful comparison to his figure which stood over 6 feet. Her hips held a pair of jean shorts that framed her rear, the legs frayed without any hemming, exposing her long fair legs to him, her bare feet pressed against the ill-kept wooden floorboards of the hallway. Her curvaceous torso was compressed into a black tank top that clung to the curves of her flawless hourglass form, outlining her developed bust before dipping to expose her miniscule waist. Her hands were fumbling over the hem of her top, which had risen slightly above her midriff from her sudden movement of the door, exposing a diamond stud that was threaded through her navel along with a small scribble of ink along her right hip, creating a design of a jet black kitten sporting a violet witch's hat. Teddy felt the back of his throat grow dry; his eyes blinking rapidly as he quickly averted his gaze away from her ample cleavage.

The girl suddenly noticed Teddy's presence, tilting her head up to peer at him through a pair of wide, sky blue orbs that seemed to drown him in their inquisitive gaze. He could see a slight twinkle flicker through her captivating eyes, as if flirtatiously warning him of the secrets they concealed. Beneath her left eye sat a beauty mark, a gentle dark dot that hugged her cheekbone. Her thin eyebrows arched up at him from above her mesmerizing orbs, hidden by her dark side-swept bangs. The remainder of her long, glossy ebony tangles were messily pulled out of her features, not only revealing her ears to be aligned with numerous piercings, but fully exposing her beautiful fair face to him.

Her plump, bright crimson lips formed a straight line as she narrowed her eyes at him in aggravation, crossing her arms over her chest, inadvertently accentuating her cleavage even further. Her voice swept over him with a twinge of irritation yet still sounding like the sweet melody of a harmonious harp to his ears as she spoke.

"Now who may I ask are _you_?"


	2. A Pub And A Plan

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction<strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

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><p><strong>02. <strong>_A Pub And A Plan_

Teddy cursed himself mentally as he gawked at the beauty that stood before him, his vocal cords paralysed by the lump growing in his dry throat with every passing moment as his eyes stared deep into her piercing crystal blue orbs. His gaze quickly darted to a bead of sweat, running down her fair features, exposing the summer heat that encapsulated her body, making her chest rise and fall rapidly. She seemed to notice the shift in his stare as he traced the journey of the droplet of water, creeping down towards her heaving chest.

"Look, if you are here to stare at me," She muttered with growing irritation, her expression now twisting into one of disdain. "Then you can just get the hell off of my front step."

Instinctively, Teddy felt his hand jolt out, his palm connecting with the tattered wood of the front door, holding it open as she moved to slam it shut. Her eyes widened once more at his sudden movement, her soft lips curling together into a sneer.

"I'm Ted Lupin." He felt the sentence rush through his lips so quickly that it nearly sounded like a single word.

"And?" She arched an eyebrow at him impatiently.

Finally, he cleared his throat, regaining control of his vocal cords as his composure regenerate, the pounding of his heart against his ribs slowing to a typical rate. With his free hand, he retrieved the final file from his messenger bag, glancing at the name upon the front before redirecting his gaze to the girl.

"Is this the Crafting residence?" He enquired in a more collected tone as he dropped his hand from the door cautiously.

"It may be," She retorted in a monotone of disinterest, her words rolling off of her tongue venomously. "Why do you ask, Mister Lupin?"

"I am here to investigate several reports of suspicious activity about this village that we suspect may be from a non-muggle source," He explained formally, his psyche secretly cheering in victory at his regained self-control. "And if this is the Crafting household, making it one of the wizarding households in the area, I was hoping to ask the members of the family a few questions."

"Pretty proud of yourself for getting that all out _so_ officially, aren't you?" A smirk crept across her lips as if she had read his mind. "Except you would be in quite the pickle if I were in fact a muggle."

"But you aren't one, now are you?" He challenged, gesturing towards the file cradled in his arms as he spoke. "Because according to _this_, this address is home to the Crafting family, a _wizarding_ family, plus if you were a muggle, would you not be shouting profanities and exclaiming my insanity by now?"

"Now if you knew _that_, then why did you waste your breath asking me if this was the Crafting household?" She asked, leaning against the frame of the door, glancing at her blunt nails in boredom.

"It's a formality," He stated in a straightforward manner before folding his own toned arms over his torso, mirroring her stance. "Then again, if we are going to ask one another those sorts of questions, then why did you not just tell me this was, in fact, the Crafting household rather than waste _both_ of our breaths with all of this?"

"Are you saying I'm now wasting your ever so important time and you don't want me to do it anymore?" She enquired with false sincerity before rolling her eyes with a furious scoff. "Because, to be perfectly honest, you're whole presence here is a bloody waste of _my _time."

"If you would just answer a few questions of mine, we can both be on our merry ways." He compromised with a small, genuine smile forming across his shapely lips.

"Or you can just bugger off because you have no business being here at all," She snapped, grabbing hold of the door tightly as she straightened herself upright. "So unless you have any form of warrant, goodbye, Ted Lupin."

With that, the door forcefully slammed shut mere millimetres from Teddy's stunned expression before the sound of a lock clicking shut broke him free of his bewildered trance. His mop returned to soft ebony from its excited deep violet colouring at the site of the gorgeous witch, his muscles suddenly relaxing as his shoulders slumped forward. He hadn't realised how tense his body had been in her presence until now, despite her dismissive attitude.

After tucking the Crafting file under his arm, he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers, turning his back to the hideous cottage. He could feel the image of the girl's curvaceous figure singe into the back of his mind, her otherworldly sky blue orbs penetrating him, drawing him to her captivatingly. Suddenly they darkened, replacing themselves with the sapphire gems of Victoire Weasley, narrowed into the flirtatious gaze often thrown his way. He felt guilt flood over him, twisting his innards over one another, making his breath catch in his throat. He quickly shook the images from his head, his thoughts assuring himself that he solely felt affection for his partner and any attraction to the young girl was a momentary lapse.

A gentle breeze of a summer afternoon brushed over him as he made his way back to the village, lacing its fingers through his feathery locks, guiding his tangles on a waltz about his handsome face. The sun was creeping towards the horizon, preparing to electrify the sky with tones of persimmon and rose as the street lights of the town centre began to brighten, illuminating the houses in a dim glow, transforming the dark, dingy village into soft, welcoming haven.

Teddy weaved his way through the many calm stores before finding the pub Gunner had vanished into, the sound of inebriated chatters of conversation already erupting from the tavern. As the nineteen-year-old wizard slipped through the doors, the aroma of home-cooked meals flooded over him, making his stomach groan with hungry anticipation, his eyes following the various plates of food that passed by him as the servers whisked from table to table.

A large hand protruded through the chaos, catching his attention immediately, leading him to where the beholder sat. Gunner grinned crookedly, dropping his hand to embrace his pint of golden brown liquid, taking a swig of it before gesturing to the seat beside him. Teddy obeyed silently whilst Gunner's dark amber orbs darted towards the other pair of figures sitting at the table.

The figure sitting across from Gunner was tall, towering over the trio of men even when sitting down with a brawny, well-built figure that was compressed into a pair of black slacks and tight-fitting ivory top, its short sleeves revealing his toned arms which were propped up onto the tabletop, his hands curled into large fists on which his square jaw rested. His masculine face had a bronze tone to it, revealing the freckles dotted along his flawlessly straight nose, rimming his dark maroon, almost black eyes that rested on the empty shot glasses sitting before him. His sandy blonde hair was cropped short with a few fringes left longer to frame his tanned visage. A jumper was slung around the back of the man's chair with the title of a world-famous Quidditch team printed on the back in large emerald letters and by that, Teddy could easily recognise the figure as David Prew, a muggle born making up the third member of their quartet.

Teddy grinned at David, who had just finished off his final shot glass, as he took his seat across from the final member of their quarter, Mikhail MacDonald. He was the shortest of the four, standing less than 6 feet tall with a slender body that was dressed in a pair of pinstripe slacks, a button-down ivory top, and a skinny ebony tie, Teddy easily assuming that he had just arrived from his own work. Mikhail had a tousled mop of mousy brown locks with a slight curl to them, falling along his collarbone, framing his pale features. His big, deep azure blue orbs sat on either side of a small button nose, hidden behind a pair of ebony, thick-rimmed glasses, completing his intellectual appearance.

"We already ordered your drink, Teddy," Gunner exclaimed, sliding a pint of beer that matched his own towards Teddy. "What took you so long?"

"He was working, something you two may want to try sometime." Mikhail intercepted, pointing from David to Gunner accusingly.

"Excuse me, what do you think I'm doing here?" Gunner retorted with a roll of his dark eyes before shaking his dirty-blonde tangles out of them. "This _is _working. You're just jealous that I get to sit and drink whilst you sit in an office all day running around doing chores."

"If he wants Shacklebolt's position as minister for magic, he has to kiss his arse for a few years." David stated with a smirk.

"I am _not _after Kingsley Shacklebolt's job," He corrected with a scowl, adjusting his glasses upon his curved nose. "If anything, I'm making my way towards being the Senior Undersecretary, not Minister for Magic."

"For now at least." Teddy murmured before taking a guzzling down a mouthful of his drink, the chilled alcohol electrifying his nerves into life as it slipped down his throat.

"Hey, you just got here; you don't get to start making fun of me until you've finished at least one drink." Mikhail snapped playfully, taking a small sip of his own drink.

"Well, then let me be the one to tell you that you should try drinking like a man," Gunner prodded, taking a small sip out his beer with his pinkie finger erected outward, mocking Mikahil with a bat of his eyelashes before redirecting his attention to Teddy. "Now you, who actually drinks like he has testicles, how did the investigation go today? Can we blow this hellhole yet?"

"That's a bit unfair, Gunn, Dave also drinks like a man," Teddy replied, gesturing to the empty shot glasses as David tried to summon a waiter to bring him another set. "But, as for the investigation, all the muggle families were more than happy to give their accounts regarding the sightings and reports, some of them doing so without me even having to pretend I was from a muggle police force,"

"The few wizarding families were mostly elderly witches and wizards who were more than happy to tell me what they knew, although it was all pretty ambiguous. However, when I got to the last house, I got a few words in before having the door slammed in my face," Teddy felt his eyes roll involuntarily at the memory before the image of the attractive girl pranced through his mind. "After a few knocks on the door, a girl answered and then told me to bugger off."

"Well, I guess we're heading home then–wait, did you say a _girl_?" Gunner leaned forward with interest. "Now what sort of age range would you apply to this girl? And was she hot?"

"Well, she was a girl and I'd guess about our age, maybe older," He cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing. "She was pretty _developed_."

"You know what, we shouldn't take no for an answer, we should go back to that house tomorrow and let _me _charm this girl into giving us what we want." Gunner exclaimed, rubbing his hands together mischievously.

"In other words, Gunn is desperate to see just how developed this girl is." Mikhail muttered under his breath yet loud enough for the others to hear.

"And since when can you charm girls that Teddy can't?" David added sceptically.

"Girls fall under my charms whenever I flash them my smile, it's like a super power," He admitted before clocking onto what was added and glaring at the larger boy. "And what do you mean by that, Dave?"

"Just what I said, Teddy is almost as good as me when it comes to getting girls and thus, better than you, Gunn."

"In what fucking universe is that true?" Gunner growled angrily.

"Think about it logically," Mikhail suggested. "Teddy is a metamorphmagus, he can _literally _make himself whatever any girl wants. He could even make himself into whatever any guy wants too."

"What a wonderful talent I have," Teddy muttered, disgusted by the idea of taking a female form. "But can we please stop discussing this before Gunn starts planning my murder?"

"Too late," Gunner retorted, the edges of his plump lips curling upwards into a demonic smirk. "I could kill you off whilst we're out here, make it look like an accident. Then at your funeral, when Victoire needs comforting, I'll take her in my arms and she'll realise I was the one she loved all along. And the rest will be history."

"Your plan is pretty flawed, especially as you've just told all of us about it."

"Then I'll just have to get rid of you too, Mik. I'm not sure if I would want to take on Dave in a physical fight, but I could always pay him off," He winked at David before turning to Teddy. "So you had better sleep with one eye open, Lupin."

"You shouldn't be allowed to drink, I can barely tell if you're being serious or not," Teddy joked in response, snatching Gunner's beer away from him before continuing. "But, even if you can't charm this girl, we'll still go back tomorrow and you, Gunn, can distract her."

"What are you going to do whilst I distract her? Not that I'm complaining."

"I'll just take a look around," He replied with a shrug. "Just make sure that she won't even know I'm there."


	3. The Interrogation

Bah, sorry. I haven't updated in a while. There's been drama at home. XD I need surgery and then one of my dogs went running through the bush and cut herself on something and she's gotten herself really upset and freaked out. I didn't quite have the heart to leave her alone so I was quite distracted from writing yesterday. BUT I'M BACK! 8D WOO!

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>03. <strong>_The Interrogation_

Teddy tugged the hood of his murky sweatshirt over his raven locks as water droplets began to sprinkle from the ashen-coloured sky, the sun smothered out of sight by darkened storm clouds. Gunner walked alongside him, his hood left down as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his worn-out jeans, allowing the bullets of liquid to splash across his handsome features, his dampened golden tangles clinging to his thoughtful expression tightly.

"Why haven't you put your hood up, Gunn?" Teddy enquired from within the safety of his hood, his fair-skinned visage not tarnished by a single drop of rain.

"It's all part of my plan, Teddy," He replied calmly, shaking his drenched locks out of his dark amber orbs as they ascended the path towards the decaying cottage where the so-called plan would be put into place. "You see, when I turn up soaking wet and looking for some shelter, this girl will have no choice but to let me in."

"You think she's going to let a man she doesn't know who looks like a drowned rat into her house?" Teddy scoffed with a chuckle at his comrade's expense. "Good luck with that."

"I'll make you eat those words as I can charm any girl–"

"Yeah, I know, Gunn," Teddy interrupted with a roll of his eyes as they tinged matte black with irritation. "You wouldn't stop announcing your supposed ability to charm any woman last night whilst you were drunk enough to mistake Mik for one of those women."

"You don't have to be _that _drunk to make that mistake," Gunner retorted with a sluggish shrug of his shoulders, his soaked clothing hanging off of the dips and curves of his athletic figure heavily. "He's not exactly manly to begin with."

"Doesn't change the fact that he is a male and you were practically ready to jump into bed with him," Teddy challenged. "I'm surprised you could dress yourself this morning with the monster of a hangover you must have had."

"Unlike you, I can handle my alcohol quite well and woke up as chirpy as a bird, Teddy." He corrected with a sly smirk.

"Or you are _still _a little drunk from last night."

Silence settled between the duo of aspiring aurors as they approached the overgrown lot that housed the Crafting family. Gunner's lips wore a snarl of disgust at the ill-kept surroundings as Teddy departed from his side, lingering about the shadows.

"Good luck." He muttered as Gunner sauntered towards the front door, despite his drenched clothes weighing down his tall figure.

Gunner simply saluted to his comrade before turning to face the rundown cottage and tapping the joints of his fist against the door. He repeated the knock a few times before an audible groan erupted from the other side of the door and it was heaved from its frame. The threshold revealed a figure Teddy easily recognised as the girl from the day before, yet she appeared softer as she huddled in the doorway, trying to protect herself from the raindrops that pattered about the front step.

She was dressed in a plain ivory tank top and a pair of loose-fitting sweats, her curves still obviously visible through her casual attire, the neckline of her top hoisted up in a futile attempt to cover her ample bosom. Her glossy ebony locks fell free of any tie, falling about the curve of her mid-back, slightly ruffled as if she had just climbed out of bed, yet she was _still_ bizarrely gorgeous. Her slanted bangs tickled over her sky blue orbs which were framed by slight bags from lost sleep, her pallid face free from any make-up. Even in her recently awoken form, Teddy knew Gunner would agree with him that this girl was beyond attractive, a natural beauty.

"Do you know what time it is?" She snapped in aggravation, rubbing her small fist against one of her eyes adorably despite the irked expression that clung to her visage. "What do you want?"

"I was just hoping for somewhere to shelter myself until the rain stopped." Gunner replied innocently with a crooked smile.

"Well, that somewhere is _not _here, so bugger off." Before she could slam the door shut in his face, his foot stretched out, wedging the door open forcefully.

"Not until you answer a few questions of mine, sweetheart." He chimed, his smile growing into a charismatic smirk.

As her fury escalated, her attention fully directed towards Gunner as she slung a series of profane insults his way, Teddy slipped around the corner of the cottage, his movements safely undetected amongst the pitter-patter of rain and the distraction Gunner had created. As Teddy rounded the house, he felt his heart drop in his chest, his eyes widening in shock, his dark hair suddenly electrified into a saddened tone of ashen.

The garden that clung to the back of the cottage was a wasteland, the ground overgrown, littered in the corpses of flower buds, unable to survive until bloom amongst the dominant weeds. Discarded furniture was sprawled across the garden, overturned and desecrated with an array of violent slashes piercing through their frail exteriors. It appeared akin to a battlefield, sprinkled in the cadavers of the victims of the war that had taken place in the unkempt garden. The longer Teddy stared at the scene, the deeper the pit in his stomach became, his suspicions running wild as his psyche warned him that this was _not _the home of a _normal_ family.

The sound of footsteps over the creaking floorboards of the house suddenly leapt Teddy free of his thoughts, his tousled mop of tangles becoming ivory with frantic fright as the footsteps grew closer. He pressed himself to the wall, silently thankful for the looming shadows the darkened sky exuded over the cottage, hiding his figure amongst them as he focused his mind, forcing the colouring of his body into tones of ebony imperceptible amongst the darkness.

The screened back door whipped free of its frame, crashing into the wall as the young girl leant out into the thunderstorm. Her pale eyes glanced about the garden, narrowed in concentration as she wrinkled her nose as if searching for a scent. Her glare darted Teddy's way, his breath catching in his throat as her beautiful features were fully exposed to him, focusing on the shadows as if detecting his hidden figure. Her gaze soon broke from the shadows, taking one last scan of the garden before she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, whipping her dark hair free of any raindrops from her trip outdoors.

As she retreated back into the cottage, Teddy quickly scrambled free of his hiding place, scurrying towards the front of the house where she had reappeared to address Gunner once more with a scowl on her visage. She folded her arms over her chest tightly, furrowing her eyebrows together, glaring at him distrustfully.

"Where is he?" She seethed through her clenched teeth.

"Where is who?" Gunner replied with false naivety.

"The other member of your couplet who came to bother the hell out of me yesterday," She retorted before creating air quotes with her fingers. "'Mister Ted Lupin' is what he called himself."

"Mister Lupin?" He snorted with laughter. "His name is Teddy; no one _ever _calls him mister or Ted."

Teddy mentally cursed Gunner, a frown tugging along the edges of his full lips at his comrade's words as he continued to chuckle to himself at the girl's words. She too wore an expression of irritation at the chuckling blonde-haired wizard on her front step, her patience clearly rapidly evaporating away with every passing second. After a moment of deliberation as Gunner calmed himself, the girl spoke once again in a softer yet firmer tone.

"If I answer your questions, will you and your boyfriend leave me alone?" She arched her eyebrows at Gunner as he nodded immediately in agreement to her terms, not even bothering to deny her labelling the pair of them as a couple. "All right then, grab _Teddy _and come inside. And before I forget, do _not_ touch anything."

* * *

><p>The interior of the cottage was even less appealing than the exterior, if that was even possible, the miniature rooms littered in clutter strewn across the floor carelessly. The girl led the pair into what Teddy assumed to be a living room, directing them to sit on the hazardously torn armchairs that sat about an aged wooden coffee table, an array of newspapers splattered across the top half-heartedly. The room was dimly lit by the flickering bulbs overhead, shadowing the dulled out, striped wallpaper as it peeled off of the walls, revealing the dingy, cracked plastering beneath it.<p>

As Teddy settled himself into the stiff armchair, he noticed a tiny, ebony feline saunter into the room, its long sleek tail waving in the air before it leapt onto the girl's lap, curling up upon her as she whispered the name _Romy _to it lovingly. He felt himself smile at the scene as he tore back his hood, revealing his handsome features to the girl before he snatched a file along with parchment, ink, and a quill from his messenger bag.

"Thank you for agreeing to speak to us." Teddy piped with genuine appreciation.

"And may I say that you have a lovely home," Gunner added with a sly smirk prancing across his lips, his deep eyes narrowing alluringly. "And you are an even lovelier woman."

"Yeah, yeah, that's great," She grumbled, petting the cat softly, rubbing the buds of her fingers along its perked up ears as it purred cheerfully at her. "Let's just get this interrogation over with."

"Unfortunately, some of these questions may seem a bit tedious, but they are a formality for any investigation," Teddy begun, running his hands through his ebony tangles before clearing his throat nervously. "What is your name?"

"Anya-Jeanne Crafting." She replied curtly.

"So this _would _be the Crafting household, Anya?" He enquired as she nodded in agreement, glee electrifying through his nerves as her name rolled off of his tongue smoothly. "And what is your age?"

"I'm seventeen."

Teddy paused as he scribbled down her answer, glancing up at her in disbelief, Gunner mirroring his expression with eyes the size of dinner plates. Anya definitely did _not _look seventeen to the duo, her fairly curvaceous figure akin to that of an adult, not a teenager, although her diminutive height of 5'3" did allude to her true age. After shaking himself free of his shocked thoughts, Teddy continued with the list of queries, jotting down her answers as they came.

"Do you attend school in the United Kingdom?"

"Yes, I attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He suddenly felt his eyes bulge once again, surprised that he had not noticed such an attractive girl at the boarding school during his own years.

"Really? We attended Hogwarts as well," Teddy replied cheerfully. "This is our second year out in the real world after graduating."

"Although I must say, I think I would have noticed someone as beautiful as you whilst at Hogwarts," Gunner soothed with a crooked smile on his lips. "If only I wasn't so busy with my head in the books, I spent my Hogwarts years studying hard to become an auror."

"Just ignore him." Teddy muttered whilst rolling his eyes at his companion's coy lies.

"I plan to," She hissed with a glower. "Let's just get back to the questions."

"All right then, what are your parents' names?"

"Jeanne Crafting and Virgil Romulus." A tone of sadness seeped through her voice as she responded whilst bowing her head slightly, slipping her arms around her waist to embrace herself tightly.

"Is anyone else living in this house currently?" Teddy continued gently, noticing her distress.

"Yes, my mother lives here with me," She glanced up at him, blowing a stray strand of ebony out of her eyes before continuing in a matter-of-fact tone. "But you cannot speak to her; she has been ill lately and has been bedbound for quite some time. Either way, there is no point in you asking her anything; she is _not _involved in any of that suspicious activity you told me about yesterday."

"Can we not ask her a few routine questions when she feels well again, just for the report?" Gunner suggested.

"No, but you can put this in your report," Anya growled snidely, trying to hide the grief in her voice with fury, but Teddy easily saw through her façade. "My mother no longer has any magical abilities after the stress my father's passing put on her and she _never _leaves the house anymore, so she does not know anything about what has been going on and I'd rather we kept it that way. She doesn't need any more stress or worry put on her for my safety with all these strange occurrences."

"Your father passed away?" He pushed his parchment away from him for a moment, glancing at Anya supportively as his eyes became a comforting deep navy. "I'm so sorry."

"Doesn't matter," She lied, twisting her fingers over one another anxiously. "I was four when it happened, I barely even remember it."

"Do you want us to stop?" Teddy suggested, sympathising with her sorrowful loss. "We can come back another time; it's just a few more routine questions so there's no rush."

"No it's fine, I'm happy to do this for you," She replied in a gentle voice. "After all, you will need to get all this done as soon as possible if you want to be an effective auror, won't you?"

And then Teddy felt his mop of hair become an excited electric blue as the strangest thing happened, a small, sweet smile formed upon her rosy lips.


	4. A Night At The Potter's

Haven't updated in a while. So it was about time! :D I'm moving house today and tomorrow, so my writing is a bit on and off. But I have loads of inspiration. :3

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>04. <strong>_A Night At The Potter's_

"That Crafting girl was _unbelievably_ hot," Gunner exclaimed with a crooked smirk spreading across his thin lips. "You can_not_ say our trip to that shithole was useless, I am _never _going to her image out of my head."

"I'm happy for you," Teddy replied sarcastically, his wispy mop of hair matte black with irritation as his friend continued to rave on about Anya affectionately. "I'm sure Ronald will be proud of his trainee."

"He will be when I tell him about her _assets_," He taunted, mimicking the size of her developed chest with his large hands. "If I managed to score that body, I think the men of England will have to give me a knighthood."

"Can we keep your mind out of the vulgar gutter for the evening?" Teddy muttered warningly. "I don't think either of our mentors will be impressed if you tarnish the innocence of their children."

"You, sir, are just as bad as me," Gunner stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "Or did you spend all those late nights alone with Victoire just talking, fully clothed, on opposite sides of the room from one another?"

"Oh just shut up, silence is a skill you need to master." He snapped back with a roll of his eyes, now dark crimson with aggravation.

The persimmon light of the street lamps framing the roads of Godric's Hollow illuminated the towering, athletic figures of the aspiring aurors as they trudged towards the Potter residence in stiff silence. Soon enough, the manor opened up before them, emerald vines clinging to the well-aged ashen stones of the manor that was rimmed with a well-kept garden boxed in by a mahogany fence and blossoming flower beds. Teddy felt a warm sense of belonging flood over him as he slipped through the gate, pausing to straighten out his ebony, button-down top before pressing his finger into a tiny slot, triggering the shriek of a bell to echo down the corridor passed the door.

"Excited to see your girlfriend I take it, Teddy."

"What did I say about keeping your mind out of the gutter for the night?" Teddy corrected, ignoring the crooked, goofy grin of mockery spreading across Gunner's handsome features. "And we're just here so I can update Harry on what we've gathered from our investigation so far."

Suddenly, the front door swung open, interrupting the duo as their eyes swept towards the willowy figure now standing in the threshold. The exceptionally beautiful girl before them smiled with delight as her deep sapphire eyes landed on the pair, her strawberry blonde locks bouncing about her miniscule waist in a waterfall of curls. Her tall, slender figure was compressed into a rose-coloured, strapless dress, the skirt sliding about her fair thighs, fully exposing her long legs. Her arms extended towards Teddy, slipping around his neck as her body collided with his before her rose petal lips crashed into his passionately in greeting.

"Yeah, of course that's why we're here," Gunner mumbled, his tone dripping in sarcasm before he cleared his throat, interrupting the excited Victoire Weasley and stunned Teddy. "Can we at least go inside before you snog your boyfriend's face off?"

"Sorry," Victoire giggled, her high cheekbones burning scarlet sheepishly as she slipped her hand into Teddy's, leading him inside with Gunner following close behind. "It's just been a while since I saw my Teddy."

"Well I'm sure he missed you just as much if he gets greetings like that every time he sees you." He taunted, nudging the metamorphmagus in question in the ribs playfully.

"Get off, Gunn," Teddy exclaimed, scooting away from his comrade before prying his hand free from Victoire's tight grasp. "I should find Harry so we can discuss how things went."

"But this is the first time I've seen you in weeks," Victoire whined, pushing out her bottom lip into a pout as she glanced up at her boyfriend with wide, pleading eyes. "And dinner is almost ready; you must be hungry after all that _very _hard work."

"This is really important, it will only take a little bit," He cooed gently, trying to hide his irritation at her pushy nature. "Gunn will keep you company whilst I'm gone."

"But, Teddy, I want–"

"Thank you two for joining us for dinner," Harry's voice boomed through the hallway, his tall, slender figure emerging from his office as he adjusted his round-rimmed glasses to glance at Teddy's relieved expression. "I hope you don't mind, Victoire, but I just need to borrow Teddy for a minute. I'll return him to you as soon as possible."

Victoire glanced at her uncle, her sour pout remaining on her plump lips as she reluctantly tore herself away from Teddy in defeat. As he vanished into the office alongside Harry, Teddy could hear Gunner chatting away to Victoire about any friends of hers available for his amusement. Teddy rolled his eyes at his comrade as he perched himself upon the plush armchair before Harry's desk as his godfather rounded the desk to settle into his own chair.

"Victoire seems very overly excited about seeing you," Harry admitted with a chuckle at his niece's expense. "She has been raving on and on about you to Lily, I just hope Lily won't be as boy crazed when she is older."

"I wouldn't say Victoire is boy crazed, she's just a bit lively," Teddy replied with a small smile. "But I guess that's just part of what makes her a charming young woman."

"Oh yes, I remember what girls were like when I was your age," He recalled before his grin dropped to a serious expression as he propped his elbows up onto the tabletop, lacing his fingers and resting his chin upon the platform he had created. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand then, Teddy, how did the start of your investigation go? What have you found?"

"Well, I interviewed all of the muggles and the few wizarding folk living in the area," Teddy explained, retrieving his notes from his messenger bag as he spoke. "Everyone was very willing to give me their own reports on what had been going on, whether it was true or not is the question, although a lot of what has been said seems to be consistent, however with very few wizards living in the area, it is hard to get a deeper opinion on the true nature of the occurrences,"

"However, the last wizarding family I visited proved to be interesting, the Crafting family," He elaborated, slapping the file regarding the bizarre Anya-Jeanne Crafting and the information she had given him upon the desk before his godfather. "I only managed to speak to the daughter, Anya-Jeanne Crafting, as the mother is bedridden and the father passed away years ago. And although the daughter did answer my questions in a way that was consistent with what others have reported, I feel there may be more depth to what she knows; I think she knows a lot more about what has been going on."

"And why do you think this?" Harry enquired, glancing over the rims of his trademark glasses as they slipped down his pointed nose before pushing them back into their rightful place about his emerald orbs.

"Well, she was very reluctant to speak to me at all; it took several attempts to get her to consider answering my questions, whereas everyone else was far more willing to offer their reports, regardless of if they held a wizard or muggle status," Teddy explained awkwardly, unsure of how to put his suspicions into words. "And her house appeared to be almost a battlefield, everything had been beaten and battered, especially outside a lot of the old furniture was scratched."

"That is not much evidence for an involvement in any dark activity, Teddy, have you never heard the saying _don't judge a book by its cover_?"

"I know, it's just hard to put my reasons into words, but I _know _there is something more to what is going on and I honestly thinkthat she knows something about it or knows someone who does." He protested confidently, trusting his sharp instincts.

"Alright then," Harry conceded defeat after eyeing his godson carefully for a few seconds as if searching his visage for a flicker of doubt. "Follow your instincts on this, it is _your _case and you call the shots. As for this Crafting girl, perhaps you should pay her another visit, perhaps gather more solid evidence, you could even ask the other residents about the Crafting family in case anything suspicious has been noticed."

"There is a problem with speaking to Anya again, you see, she is seventeen and will be attending Hogwarts next week along with everyone else," Teddy clarified. "Meaning I cannot really get in contact with her apart from free weekends and _if _my suspicions are right and she is involved in these reports, then what if they are brought to Hogwarts?"

"And you are worried about what might happen to everyone, especially as Victoire is in her year," Harry completed the thought before smiling supportively. "If you are so worried, why don't you go to Hogwarts as well? Then you can have access to any information regarding the Crafting family and continue your observations."

"Are you sure? Will I be allowed to disrupt the school schedule with my investigation?" He prodded in disbelief.

"Of course, I will contact the headmistress in the morning to organise access to classrooms and students for you," Harry announced in a more casual tone, running a hand through his tousled jet black tangles. "However, you will have to organise your own accommodation as we cannot expect the school to house you, but I'm sure you can find somewhere to stay in Hogsmeade."

"I'll look at renting a room in the Three Broomsticks Inn." Teddy suggested, his godfather nodding in approval as he chuckled to himself.

"Ah yes, the Three Broomsticks," He reminisced with a smile. "I think most Hogwarts students have some of their best times there."

"Wait!" A masculine voice shouted as Harry's redheaded, male counterpart burst through the door, stray strands of uncombed fiery ginger falling into his crystal blue eyes and freckled complexion as he stepped aside to reveal Gunner's smirking expression. "If you are planning on sending Teddy Hogwarts, _my _trainee should go as well, for training and everything else."

"Ron," Harry scolded, shaking his head with gentle laughter at his closest friend–now brother-in-law–'s expense. "How are you still mooching off of me all these years on? Maybe you should try sending Gunner off by himself."

"That would be useless though, Teddy has the best opportunities because you are the head of the department." Ron countered.

"Hey, that's exactly what I said," Gunner intercepted, his smirk becoming a crooked grin as his amber eyes darted towards Teddy. "See, Teddy, I told you it was true."

"Whatever you say," He replied with a roll of his eyes before sighing in defeat. "But, I don't mind if Gunner comes with me to Hogwarts, I could always do with an extra pair of hands, especially if I end up having bitten off more than I can chew."

Harry reluctantly agreed, willing to allow Gunner such an opportunity although he could easily see through Teddy's lies, well-aware that his godson did not need such assistance. After Teddy returned the investigation files to his bag, the mentors and their trainees were interrupted by the call to dinner before quickly hurrying out of the room to fill their groaning stomachs. The rest of the evening was spent at the Potter's along with the Weasleys, Teddy completing the gargantuan family and despite the tight squeeze that such get-togethers were, Teddy could not help but feel a warm feeling rush over him. He felt welcomed, he felt at home.


	5. That Was Not Necessary

Bah, I've finally moved into my new house and everything is settled in. I really wanted to post yesterday but moving really sucks the energy out of you. Bleh. D; Plus I keep waking up at 5am because I don't have curtains in my new room yet and the sun blinds me. xD But here we are, enjoy the chapter I guess. (:

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>05. <strong>_That Was Not Necessary_

A shrill shriek of an alarm erupted throughout the room, tearing Teddy away from his blissful slumber as he tossed about his bed before his hand darted out from the sheet, slamming down on the clock to silence its screams. With a groan, he reluctantly crept out from the safety of his sheets, swinging his legs onto the floor whilst forcing his scantily clad body to sit upright upon the mattress, preventing him from falling back into his sleep. He ruffled a hand through his untamed mop of ebony locks, brushing it out of his forest green eyes as he scanned the room before him that had been his mothers before it was his for the better of his nineteen years of life.

The walls were coated in striped wallpaper and a littering of posters of wizarding rock bands, particularly those of _The_ _Weird Sisters_, a favourite of Teddy's that his mother had shared. His chest of drawers hung open, the drawers bare of the clothes that now resided in a suitcase neatly tucked beside the bedroom door with a set of clothes for the day sitting upon the top, awaiting Teddy's departure.

Things had gone bizarrely well with Headmistress Quackenbush, the niece of the previous Headmistress McGonagall, although she had only known Teddy for the last few years of his education, she welcomed him _and _Gunner back to Hogwarts, promising them full access to teachers and students alike for their investigation. And as he dressed himself for the day, he wondered if the headmistress was allowing them to enter Hogwarts so willingly because she respected their investigation and roles as aspiring aurors or because the famed Harry Potter agreed with their need to enter the boarding school. Or maybe she welcomed him out of guilt, as many others did, saying it would be a wondering learning experience if he ever desired to take up teaching as he would gain experience from observing and assisting professors. Such opportunities were practically thrown at him through his life, many wizards and witches feeling guilt for how they or others treated his father in light of his lycanthropy, for forcing him into poverty with extreme prejudice.

"Teddy, breakfast is ready!" The kind yet assertive voice of his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, interrupted Teddy's train of thought as he quickly glanced over his appearance.

A pair of dark, slim-fitting jeans clung to his long legs, the hems hanging about the ends of his checked converse shoes, a muggle brand that he loved in spite of the mockery he received from his wizard comrades. A plain, ebony shirt hugged his athletic torso, the short sleeves exposing the longer, black and white striped ones of an undershirt which fell to his wrists where several bands sat. After nodding at his appearance in approval, opting to keep his wispy tangles a feathery ebony colour whilst his eyes were now deep violet in colour, Teddy swept out of his room, his suitcase in tow.

As he reached the bottom of the stairwell, the open-plan kitchen and lounge opened up before him, the floral wallpapered walls decorated in animated portraits of his deceased parents and grandfather as well as newer ones of his grandmother and himself from infancy to adulthood. His grandmother stood before the breakfast bar, settling a steaming plate of food upon it before her wide, pale sienna orbs darted up to meet Teddy's gaze. Her rose lips curled into a smile that illuminated her soft, features, her chocolate brown locks falling free about her shoulders, the roots tinged in grey.

"I made you your favourite," She admitted, gesturing for Teddy to take a seat as she slipped the last few pieces of sizzling bacon onto his plate. "I swear you eat as much as your mother did, it's a wonder neither of you ended up the size of a troll."

"Maybe it's something we inherited from you," He teased, gesturing towards her tall, slender figure as he took his seat. "And thank you for the breakfast."

"No need to thank me, I just worry about what I'm going to do without someone else in the house with me whilst you are gone." She joked, but Teddy could hear the truth in her words as her eyes glistened as if on the verge of tears."

"Then please don't worry," He soothed gently after swallowing a mouthful of food, cupping one of her frail hands in his strong one with a small smile. "I will be back before you know it."

* * *

><p>"I'm going to get everything ready," Gunner piped as he held a pair of brooms under his toned arms. "The train will leave soon and I'd like to avoid a bunch of muggles catching up mid-flight."<p>

"Thanks for finally contributing," Teddy replied with a playful roll of his eyes. "I'm just going to see Victoire off; I'll be as quick as I can."

"No, take your time. I'm not in a rush, Madame Rosmerta will hold our rooms for us until we get there and either way we'll beat the expression," He explained with a shrug before his amber eyes narrowed mischievously as he nudged Teddy in the side. "Besides, I don't want to cut your snogging session short. Just tell Victoire to take it easy, she can always visit you in your room if needed."

"Okay, you can leave now." Teddy muttered with a frown, rolling his eyes once again as they became matte black with irritation.

After bidding Gunner an irked farewell, Teddy approached platform 9¾, which held a glorious, scarlet-coloured train, hidden from the sight of muggles. It roared with delight, smoke puffing out of the leading carriage as students made their way onto the Hogwarts Express. Teddy weaved his way through the excited younger students, finding himself a pillar to lean against as he awaited his girlfriend's arrival.

"What are _you _doing here?" A feminine voice snapped from beside his towering form.

Teddy felt his eyes widen whilst becoming a bashful fuchsia along with his mop of hair as his startled gaze met the irritated one of Anya-Jeanne Crafting. Her glossy, ebony tangles fell free about her mid-back, framing her developed torso whilst side-swept bangs skimmed messily over her thin eyebrows, just above her sky blue orbs that were narrowed into a suspicious glare. A single beauty mark sat below her left eye, shifting slightly as the corner of her lips pulled into a frown. Her incredibly short figure was dressed in simple yet attractive clothing, a pair of charcoal-coloured, skin-tight jeans moulded to her slim legs whilst her feet were slipped into scuffed up converse shoes. A plain black tee was slipped over her torso, exposing her curvaceous figure whilst hiding the stud pierced through her navel and the tattoo upon her right hip that Teddy had caught a glimpse of over a week ago. Her arms were folded over her large bust, a charm bracelet dancing about her wrist with a black cat charm dangling from it gently.

"Well?" She sneered impatiently, breaking Teddy free of his shock as his hair calmly returned to a darker colour, his eyes electric violet once again.

"I am just here to meet someone." He stated ambiguously, but her glare did not leave her expression.

"So you just casually meet someone on the day everyone is leaving for Hogwarts on a hidden platform instead of out in the open? Yeah, that makes complete sense," She muttered sarcastically before her tone twisted with suspicious anger. "Why are you really here? Are you following me?"

"No, I really am–"

"I answered all your questions honestly," She intercepted before he could explain, becoming surprisingly frightening in her angry state despite her short stature. "So what do you want now? I don't know anything else about what has been going on nor does my mother; we aren't going to be any help to your investigation."

"Teddy!" A squealing voice interrupted the pair, Victoire scurrying towards Teddy without a single glance at Anya, smothering him with a tight embrace.

After reluctantly hugging her back, Teddy peeled Victoire's tall, willowy figure away from him, her strawberry blonde curls framing her porcelain complexion whilst dancing about her hourglass figure as she moved. Her giggling halted as she retreated from her boyfriend, becoming aware of Anya's presence.

"Is _that _bothering you, Teddy?" Victoire snarled, narrowing her sapphire orbs into a glare at the shorter seventh year's wide-eyed expression of disbelief. "I can get rid of it, if needed."

"Victoire..." Teddy scolded under his breath, but she simply smiled up at him, blissfully ignoring his irked tone. His gaze darted towards the shocked Anya before clearing his throat awkwardly and reluctantly explaining. "This is Victoire Weasley, my girlfriend. You two probably know one another already though..."

"Yes, we've met," Anya muttered, a flicker of jealousy glinting through her eyes before being replaced by a sharp glare. "I'm not surprised that you can't get girls your own age though, so no wonder you have to cradle snatch just like your irksome friend, Gunner."

"Jealous? Well why wouldn't you be? What man would go for _you_?" Victoire sneered with a cruel laugh as she gestured towards Anya's dark, punk-rock attire. "Why don't you just run on back to your little books and leave the attractive, _normal _people alone?"

"Why would I be jealous of a bumbling bimbo like you?" She snapped back furiously. "And at least I don't have the mental capabilities of a peanut."

"Well then, at least my mother isn't a raving old bat who would rather cower behind you than ever step foot outside that disgusting hellhole you call a home."

Anya curled her hands into tight fists at the other girl's words, her figure practically shaking with fury, but instead of ploughing her fist through Victoire's smug features, she turned on her heel and stormed away in aggravation. Teddy held back the urge to call out to her, to apologise for his girlfriend's words as he tore his gaze away from her, shifting it back to Victoire as she smiled up at him, far too pleased with the effect her words had on Anya.

"That was not necessary," He scolded once again. "You didn't need to be so rude, she wasn't doing anything wrong."

"She was rude first," Victoire lied before lifting herself onto the tips of her toes, her features mere millimetres from Teddy's as she leaned into her chest, her glossy lashes brushing over her fair cheeks as her rose petal lips parted sexily. "But if you want to punish me for being naughty..."

"I'm being serious, Victoire," He growled with growing irritation, scooting away from her as she attempted to distract him from his lecturing with her immense beauty. "You really should apologise to her–"

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Celestina Devereux exclaimed before Teddy could push the point furthers, her model figure appearing beside the pair with an excited grin on her soft lips.

"No, of course you're not, Cel!" Victoire beamed, although Teddy had half the mind to rudely snap that she _was _interrupting seeing as Victoire had been so rude to Anya.

The girls embraced one another tightly, exchanging pleasantries after a few weeks apart after spending a month in France with their families and one another. Celestina stood tall, slightly taller than Victoire with a slender figure that was compressed into a low-cut, cream-coloured dress that accentuated her bust whilst revealing her long legs, the hem dancing about her mid thigh. Her shimmering raven tangles fell to the small of her back, brushed neatly out of her attractive, caramel-coloured complexion whilst exposing the few studs and rings dotted along the lobes of her ears, but her piercings were not nearly as large in quantity as that of Anya. Her almond-shaped, bright hazel eyes sat on either side of a perfectly straight nose with a small diamond stud pierced through one of the nostrils, something she would no doubt be forced to remove upon arrival at Hogwarts.

"And daddy also got me this bracelet." Celestina presented her wrist towards Victoire as she finished her longwinded story, a beautiful pearl bracelet draped around it elegantly.

"That's beautiful," Victoire squealed with excitement. "I really want to go back to that boutique in France; I could've spent the whole holiday there."

"We should go sometime, I'm sure our parents would let us, after all my dad and your mum went to Beauxbatons, they probably know people we can stay with."

Teddy resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the girls continued to discuss jewellery before moving on to other superficial subjects, feeling disinterested in their conversation as well as left out from their subjects. As he stuffed his hands into his pockets and pretended to laugh along with whatever they had said that was apparently hilarious, Teddy felt his eyes wander amongst the crowd of students, hoping to see a familiar short yet voluptuous figure once again. He felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes met the piercing ones of Anya, watching from the entrance to one of the carriages of the Hogwarts Express, a frown on her lips.

"I think I should get going." Teddy blurted at the pair as his lips tugged into a small smile at Anya that she seemed to mirror gently.

"You can't leave without giving me a kiss goodbye." Victoire demanded, a pit of anxiety forming in Teddy's stomach at her words.

"It's a bit public." He protested.

She simply shook her head defiantly, slipping her arms around his neck before pressing her lips to his jaw gently. Teddy felt dread fill his body at her touch, watching as Anya simply rolled her eyes, her smile dropping into a furious snarl as she vanished onto the train.

With a sigh of defeat, Teddy dropped his gaze to Victoire's gorgeous features, ducking his head to catch her lips with his own, wanting to lose himself in her hypnotising, Veela beauty, to wash the thoughts of Anya from his mind with her passionate kiss.

But, it wasn't that simple.


	6. Green With Envy

I felt really inspired to write loads of this because of the HP buzz after the movie. Tehehe. 83

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

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><p><strong>06. <strong>_Green With Envy_

Teddy felt the soles of his shoes crunch over the crisp, late summer grass littered about the rear end of the inn as he climbed off of his broom, exhausted from the taxing flight he had embarked on. Gunner stood beside him, a crooked grin on his shapely lips as he flicked his golden tangles out of his shimmer amber eyes to gaze up at the inn sitting before them in admiration. Teddy followed his gaze, a sigh of relief brushing through his lips as his eyes met the Three Broomsticks Inn, a welcoming pub and inn that was no doubt as old as Hogsmeade itself. The pair scrambled into the inn, a warm cosy atmosphere bombarding over them as soon as they entered, although the pub was not as crowded as it usually would be, many of its regular customers not yet returned from their summer holidays.

"I'll grab our rooms," Teddy piped, handing Gunner his broom with a smirk. "You find the luggage."

With that, Teddy sauntered towards the bar, his mop of hair becoming an electric blue with excitement at the sight of the innkeeper standing with her back to him until her eyes glanced up at the mirror behind the bar, widening at the new arrival reflected back at her.

"Teddy!" She exclaimed, whipping around to face him with a soft grin on her plump lips. "I was starting to wonder if you had gotten lost. Where is Gunner?"

As she continued to bombard one of her favourite customers with questions, Teddy felt himself gaze over Madam Rosmerta's figure. She was extremely attractive, even as a woman in her late thirties or early forties, although she looked as if she were twenty, not a single wrinkle in sight on her pretty face that was framed by golden spirals of hair that fell to her miniscule waist. Her curvaceous figure was compressed into a maroon-coloured dress, not having lost a single ounce of its curves over her years of bartending. Harry once told his godson that almost every boy at Hogwarts fancied her; she was bloody gorgeous then _and _now.

"We're just here on auror business," Teddy finally answered one of her questions as she stopped to take a breath, gathering his thoughts and tearing his gaze from her attractive features. "We won't be up to Hogwarts for a while though."

"Obviously two talented wizards such as yourself would get here before the express," She chimed, snatching something from beneath the bar before presenting two scuffed up iron keys to Teddy. "Here are the keys to your rooms; they are up the stairs on the left."

As he reached for the keys, she quickly withdrew them with a playful smirk, dangling them just beyond his arm length.

"But before you get these, you need to promise me one thing," She bargained, curling her hand into a fist around the keys, preventing Teddy from stealing a single glance at the very thing he desired. He would have agreed to any conditions just to get those keys, he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to collapse into a soft bed and wander off to sleep. "Promise me that the pair of you will come down for a drink before you run off to play auror, I'd love to spend some time with two of my favourites."

"Well, if we have to, we will," He teased with a smile, nodding in agreement before Madam Rosmerta presented the keys to him once again, not withdrawing her hand away this time as he snatched them from her palm gently. "Thank you again, Rosmerta."

Once he had ascended the creaking stairs, Teddy found Gunner's tall, athletic figure leaning against the door to his room impatiently, their luggage sitting at his feet. His lips curled into a smirk at the sight of Teddy, whose electric blue tangles were reverting to their more natural ebony colour.

"Took you long enough, too busy flirting with Rosmerta?" He taunted, gesturing towards his hair before clucking his tongue. "God, she is bloody gorgeous, isn't she? If I were ever to go for an older woman, I think it'd have to be her."

"I know you spent the majority of our Hogwarts years fancying her, Gunn."

"And you didn't? You _know_ she's gorgeous, if you didn't have Victoire, you'd be just as bad as I am," Gunner corrected as he took his key from Teddy before a coy smile spread across his lips as he nudged Teddy in the ribs. "Although, I have my sights on a new target, I reckon whilst we are here I might as well try and get to know that Crafting girl."

The metamorphmagus paused, his heart leaping in his chest at the thought of her before sinking at the thought of Gunner _with _her. He struggled to stop his tangles and orbs from becoming an envious green as he felt sick to his stomach at the notion. He shook the thoughts from his head, quickly regaining his composure as he thrust the door to his room open, ignoring Gunner's curious gaze as to why Teddy had not continued with their playful ribbing.

"Are you alright, mate?" Gunner enquired gently, his amber orbs now wide with confused concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He replied with a shrug. "I'm just exhausted. That was a bloody long flight."

"I know what you mean, we're just not as young as we used to be," Gunner joked, dropping the topic immediately before vanishing into his own room, luggage in tow. "Grab me when you're done unpacking, we should have a drink downstairs. I'd love to get reacquainted with Madame Rosmerta."

Teddy shook his head at his friend, chuckling lightly before dragging his belongings into his room, pressing the door shut behind him. The room was a good size, if not a smidge on the small side, with dark wooden walls, a double bed on the far wall, and an armoire that was slightly scuffed up. A small, en suite bathroom sat to the left of the entrance, barely larger than Teddy's arm span, but sufficient for his stay at the Three Broomsticks Inn. Teddy quickly tucked his broom under the bed, rushing about the room to unpack his clothes into the drawers of the armoire lazily, promising himself he would organise it later–although he knew it was not a valid promise–after he had rested. He flopped back onto the bed after kicking his suitcase under it, the tender mattress moulding to his chiselled figure gently, lulling him into slumber as his eyes fell shut. As he soothed his mind of the chaotic thoughts over where his investigation would go from there, one last thing crossed his mind, the beautiful smiling visage of Anya-Jeanne Crafting.

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><p>Teddy pressed the brim of his pint jug to his lips, a sweet butterscotch taste rolling over his tongue as he drunk down the remains of his golden brown butterbeer. After settling his mug down, he brushed his feathery black tangles out of his deep chocolate eyes, the nervous butterflies in his stomach relaxing after a pint of his favourite wizarding drink. He had woken from his nap earlier to furious, impatient knocking on his door by Gunner, interrupting his slumber which was littered in dreams of the mysterious Anya-Jeanne Crafting. This whole situation confused him; he struggled to figure out why he could not get Anya off of his mind. She was incredibly attractive, he could not deny that, but as was Victoire, her Veela heritage making her practically irresistible. He wondered if it was because of the oddity of their first meeting, of her trouble childhood without a father, if maybe he felt relatable to Anya in that sense.<p>

Teddy sighed to himself, breaking free of his troubling thoughts, pushing them to the back of his mind with a frown. Gunner sat across the table from him, surrounded by several empty pint jugs, having glugged down butterbeer as if his life depended on it, his arm slung over the back of his chair with one of his legs propped up on the seat, the bent knee providing a platform on which to rest his other arm as he charmed Madam Rosmerta, unaffected by the butterbeer's–albeit low–alcohol content.

"You are looking as young and radiant as ever, Rosmerta," Gunner soothed with a smirk on his lips. "I'd do _anything _to know your secret."

"Are you sure?" She murmured, her long fingers fingering the collar of his shirt as she leaned over him with an alluring gaze in her sparkling eyes. "It is young men like _you_ that keep me young."

Teddy rolled his eyes, his gaze darting up to the clock before he cleared his throat, interrupting the flirtatious pair. Madam Rosmerta smirked at Teddy, straightening herself upright and snatching the empty glasses from the table as Gunner glared daggers at him.

"What was that for? I was enjoying myself." He pouted childishly, folding his toned arms over his chest in sulking.

"The Hogwarts Express will have arrived by now," Teddy replied in a matter-of-fact tone, ignoring his friend's sour expression. "I should head up there, I want to meet with the headmistress before we start doing anything, just run our investigation by her and such."

"I'll come with you, Teddy." Gunner added as Teddy climbed to his feet, smoothing out his button-down top, following his lead.

"You don't need to, I'm pretty sure I can explain everything myself," He said with a shrug before smirking widely, narrowing his eyes at Gunner mockingly. "After all, I thought you wanted to stay here with Madam Rosmerta, have yourself some _privacy _without me around."

"Our flirting can wait," He clapped a hand around Teddy's shoulder with a chuckle, glancing back at Rosmerta briefly. "Besides, I wanted to see some of my old professors whilst we are here, particularly Professor Plumly to let her know how my Animagus training is going."

Teddy grinned, shrugging his shoulders in defeat as he swept out of the Three Broomsticks Inn, his comrade in tow, allowing Gunner to accompany him to the Hogwarts Castle. Teddy himself was also excited to see his favourite professors once again, Professor Slughorn included, a Potions professor that his godfather, his father, and himself had all shared in their Hogwarts years. Professor Plumly, although not necessarily Teddy's favourite, was an impressive teacher, a well-trained Animagus who inspired Gunner to desire the ability, training to transform himself into an eagle on demand since the day they left school. Teddy understood the desire to have such a talent, particularly in the work of an auror where a disguise could be useful, and would no doubt have joined Gunner in his training if he did not already possess the metamorphmagus ability, allowing him to shift his form into that of any living creature.

The pair made their way through the Hogsmeade village of thatched cottages and shops that would soon be covered in a crisp layer of ivory snow in the winter months, giving it a beauteous picturesque appearance. Through the early evening air, they could hear the puffing of the Hogwarts Express further through the village, having recently pulled into the station, many students no doubt piling off of it into carriages to pull them to the castle whilst the excited first years filed onto small boats that transported them over the lake, giving them a full view of the Hogwarts grounds.

"It feels weird being here without the Hogwarts Express or all the other students." Gunner admitted, pointing towards the carriages that were visible as they trudged out of the village.

The carriages guided out of the station as if pulling themselves, the creatures tugging them along only visible to those that had witnessed–and fully accepted the concept of–death. The newly arrived students now dressed in their impeccable uniforms sat in the carriages, chatting amongst themselves as they were guided to the magnificent Hogwarts Castle. Teddy nodded in agreement with the oddity of the situation, a nostalgic feeling overwhelming him as he gazed over the carriages curiously. He caught sight of a few familiar faces of students he had passed by or exchanged a few words with from his Hogwarts years, along with those that had been on the Quidditch team with David and Gunner, often sitting by them at the table along with Mikhail and Teddy, despite their lack of a Quidditch membership.

Teddy felt his eyes widen, his hair becoming a shocked ivory at the sight of a particular fair visage. Anya's short yet curvaceous figure was draped in Gryffindor robes that fully exposed her hourglass curves, her arms tightly folded over her developed bust as a frown pulled across her plump lips at the other figure in her carriage. She shook her head at what the boy was saying, her long, ebony locks bouncing about her mid-back as she did so, rolling her sky blue eyes before looking off at the horizon in disinterest.

He felt his gaze shift to the boy, his hair becoming dark emerald with envy as his sienna orbs tinged jet black furiously. The boy was tall, far taller than Anya, his figure snuggled up next to hers–much to her aggravation, it appeared–with a toned arm slung around her waist that she was struggling to scoot out of. He was handsome, most likely one of the most handsome boys at the boarding school, with shaggy chocolate brown tangles clinging to his neck, framing his sun-kissed features with bangs sweeping along his almond-shaped, dark brown eyes that were narrowed seductively, a lustful glint in them.

Teddy clenched his hands into tight fists, easily recognising the boy as a seventh year, Samuel Oliver Wood, the Seeker and Captain for the Gryffindor. Although in his years at school, Teddy had not minded the boy who David got along with swimmingly, he suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to plough his fist through his smirking face, forcing his lustful figure away from Anya.

"Teddy, are you okay?" Gunner's voice interrupted the blinding fury that had bombared over Teddy, leading him to consider marching over there and rearrange Wood's lecherous expression.

"Just fine," He seethed through his gritted teeth, tearing his eyes away from the scene and marching up the path angrily, ignoring his friend's puzzled gaze as he muttered under his breath. "But maybe if we're lucky, Anya will make sure that bastard won't be."


	7. Startled And Confused

I have this worry that I may end this story too early as in the overall chapter count will be lower than I expected. But hopefully I won't, as I love Teddy and Anya. And Gunner. xD Gunner is so great. I just want to give him a big hug. (: Him and Madam Rosmerta make me laugh. I do feel this chapter is a bit... Filler-y. But hopefully enjoyable nonetheless.

Also, because I thought you should know, I sneezed and gave myself a nosebleed in the middle of writing this chapter. xD That is possibly the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me whilst writing. It would've been greatly if this was a really intense chapter and I could claim that the tension may give you nosebleeds.

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>07. <strong>_Startled And Confused_

Teddy sighed in relief as he stared up at the hideous, ashen gargoyle guarding the headmistress' office, running his fingers through his feathery ebony locks before uttering the password Headmistress Quackenbush had left him. The gargoyle peeled away and as the young wizard made his way through the passage to the office, he wondered _why _he felt so relieved, so relieved that he had not run into Victoire on his journey through the Hogwarts Castle. Usually he would have been excited to run into her, to press his lips to hers, his hands feeling the dips and curves of her perfect figure, but at that moment, all he did was dread the idea of listening to her and her companions whine over their superficial problems and rave on about men and their male-centred antics.

He shrugged his shoulders as he came to the towering door that led to the circular office of the Headmistress, assuring himself that his anxiety over his very first auror investigation was the source of his bizarre feelings, and his love struck excitement over Victoire would return soon enough. Satisfied with his reasoning, Teddy's fingers grazed the doorknob, preparing to sweep into the room until a voice bled through the door, paralysing his movements.

"And with all these reports of suspicious activity back home, Headmistress, I am starting to worry for our safety." Anya's words flooded over him, his heart aching as her harmonious voice was drenched in vulnerable fear that he wished he could coo away with a soft embrace.

Although he knew it was wrong, Teddy pressed himself closer to the door, listening in on the conversation transpiring within, ensuring that he did not make a single noise to alert the pair to his hidden presence. He felt his gut twist with agony at the sound of the headstrong Crafting girl now filled with fright, her commanding voice quivering with dread.

"Anya, I promise you that you will be kept safe," Headmistress Quackenbush soothed kindly. "Both your mother and I will ensure that no one can hurt you."

"My mother can't protect anyone if she cannot protect herself," Anya sneered venomously, masking her fear with disappointed fury. "And how can I protect her if I am here?"

"Don't worry; you are an exceptionally smart student and your mother would not want your education to suffer on her part," She advised knowingly. "But if it helps calm your fears, I would be happy to allow you to check in with your mother every month, so long as you return to the school the same day or else suspicion will arise."

"Thank you, Headmistress. And if I find something has happened when I check–"

"Then I will take care of everything immediately and you will be excused from classes until the problem can be rectified. Now, the Welcoming Feast will begin soon, you should run along back to the Great Hall as soon as possible," The headmistress instructed sharply before her tone softened with care. "And please remember, your secrets are always safe with me, as are you and your mother, Anya."

Teddy's head spun into a vertigo of puzzlement, questions racing through his mind chaotically as his head pounded anxiously against his chest. Secrets? What secrets could she have to share with the headmistress? And what made her so terrified? She had not appeared that way when Teddy had approached her weeks earlier about the reports. Was she really _that _scared that something would happen to her mother if there _was _a creature about? There were no reports of direct attacks on individuals, only sightings and destruction of property, and the muggles seemed more ready to blame others for the occurrences than fear for their own safety.

The knob twisted beneath the buds of Teddy's fingers, tearing him from his swarm of questions as his eyes widened with fright, his tangles becoming a shocked ivory. He leapt back from the door and before Anya appeared in the threshold, he did the first thing he could think of. His build thickened, becoming that of an athlete as his fair skin became lightly bronzed. His eyes moulded into an almond shape, tinged dark chocolate to match his new shaggy hair in colour as it clung to his neck loosely. His plump lips thinned, his high cheekbones becoming less defined, his whole body moulding into a new form until recognisable as the figure of Samuel Wood.

Anya jolted back from the door, her crystal orbs wide as dinner plates in shock at the figure of her fellow seventh year standing before her. She quickly regained her composure, narrowing her eyes into slits as she folded her arms over her uniform-clad chest.

"What the hell are you doing here, Wood?" She snapped in irritation. "Did you actually follow me up here? Or am I blessed to find out that are you finally being expelled for all those nights spent in girls' beds?"

She arched an eyebrow at him impatiently as Teddy dared not open his mouth lest she recognise his voice as anything but that of Samuel Wood. Instead he forced his lips into a smug smirk that the Quidditch star often wore at Anya, attempting to behave as naturally as possible. She rolled her eyes and pushed passed him with a scowl.

"Just leave me alone, Wood, I'm not in the mood for your crap." She hissed over her shoulder before storming out of sight.

Teddy felt his whole body relax, his tensed muscles softened as his appearance slowly reverted to its natural one, his untameable mop of raven falling into his deep emerald eyes as he slumped his shoulders forward, his heart rate slowly returning to normal. As he turned to saunter into the headmistress' room, he jerked back, his heart leaping into his throat as he stared into the headmistress' sapphire orbs, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Mister Lupin, do you not know that eavesdropping is quite rude?" She prodded with a small smile on her rose-coloured lips before she gestured for Teddy to retreat with her back into the office. "I would hope that you do not intend to use that as a technique in your auror business."

Teddy smiled sheepishly as he followed Headmistress Quackenbush into her circular office, the walls aligned with animated portraits of previous headmasters, the room itself littered in an array of leather-bound tomes selected by Quackenbush herself. Her tall, slender figure was drenched in robes decorated in shades of deep azure blue, flawlessly cut sapphires slipped along the shimmer silver necklace laced around her frail neck. Her tumbling silver-tinged ivory locks were pinned up in a bundle of elegant curls, fully revealing her pallid visage to be dotted in several wrinkles that exposed her age. She gracefully swept around her gargantuan desk, perching herself upon her plush armchair as Teddy sat himself in one of the lavish seats across from her, unable to contain his embarrassment over being caught in the act of eavesdropping on her conversations.

"Now why, may I ask, have you visited me this evening, Mister Lupin? Surely you are not just here to imitate my pupils with your metamorphmagus ability." She teased gently as she rested her arms upon the desktop, lacing her spidery fingers together.

"I just wanted to discuss my role here and what access I will have to students and professors in my investigation," Teddy stated with a small, slightly strained smile. "And I assure you, I will not be eavesdropping on any others. I apologise for my actions, I am not sure what came over me."

"Not to worry, I understand. Miss Crafting is quite a brilliant young woman and any interest in her is completely understandable," Headmistress Quackenbush replied coyly, well-aware at the discomfort her words placed on Teddy, lightly chuckling at his expensive as he moved to deny her accusations, holding up a hand to silence him. "Let us not continue that topic any further, back to the matter at hand. I would be happy to allow you access to students in between classes and to sit in on classes to observe, only interrupting when necessary."

"Really?" He blurted in disbelief, although grateful that she was so willing to welcome his investigation into Hogwarts.

"Of course, you see, although I know that you cannot divulge the purpose of your investigation to me nor its details, I do trust that everything is done for the benefit of any of my students involved," She explained trustingly. "And I do know that Mister Potter would not have suggested your presence here unless it was absolutely necessary."

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><p>Teddy and the headmistress spoke for a little while longer, discussing his role in greater detail as well as his life after his years at Hogwarts, the conversation becoming more casual with each passing moment, Teddy <em>almost <em>forgetting the embarrassment he had experience at first. He was actually beginning to enjoy their informal exchange when she cleared her throat, changing the subject away from Teddy's taxing first year of auror training.

"I am afraid I have to leave, the Welcoming Feast will begin in mere minutes," Headmistress Quackenbush piped, glancing at the clock with a shake of her head. "You really do lose track of time the older you get. Will you be joining the students at the feast?"

"I'm afraid not, I had better find the other auror trainee who came here with me." Teddy admitted, remembering that he had left Gunner amongst the horde of returning students to locate Professor Plumly.

"Ah yes, Gunner Macmillan. Very well then, it is best that you do not leave him to get lost in the castle, particularly when the stampede of students is let out of the Great Hall following the feast." She replied with a chuckle.

"That's true, I'd best be off immediately in that case," He joked back, climbing to his feet as he spoke. "Thank you for your time, Headmistress, if my presence here or Gunner's ends up causing any problems with anyone, please do tell us immediately and we will sort it out."

With that, Teddy politely bid her farewell, swiftly making his way out of the room until her words halted him mere millimetres from the door.

"Before you leave, Mister Lupin, I advise you that it would do well for you to visit Professor Slughorn tomorrow." She mused puzzlingly before shooing him out of the room, his handsome features twisting with confusion at her ambiguous suggestion.

Rolling his eyes at her words, Teddy turned his back to the room, gently shutting the door behind him as he did so, only to nearly leap back into it with a startle at the short, curvaceous figure of Anya-Jeanne Crafting standing before him. He mentally cursed himself as he stared down at Anya in shock, irked that everyone seemed to be startling him at any given chance today.

Her thin eyebrows were drawn together over her sky blue orbs as they narrowed into a suspicious glare with her lips pursed together into a frown completely her irritated expression. Her arms were folded over her chest once more, but her hands were curled into tight fists, as if preparing to plough one through Teddy's fair visage at any moment. Even with her clear aggravation at his presence, Teddy could not help but find Anya utterly adorable, inspecting her features in awe, wanting nothing more than to run his fingers through her silken ebony locks, caressing her flawless fair flesh, pressing his lips to her plump, glossy ones.

Teddy physically shook his head, silencing the thoughts, disgusted with himself for thinking such things when he had a girlfriend, an exceptionally beautiful one who he was completely devoted to. At least he used to be. Anya's infuriated voice sliced through his frantic thoughts as she snarled up at him, her sleek wand held tightly in her right hand.

"You better tell me what on bloody earth you are doing here right now, Teddy, or I will make sure you regret it."


	8. You Can Call Me AJ

Ah Teddy, I am starting to love him a lot. Just want to give him a big hug. XD This took me way longer than it should've to get out, but I had someone over and such and it felt rude to be writing whilst I'm supposed to be hanging out and keeping them company. XD But here it is, chapter 8.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>08. <strong>_You Can Call Me A.J._

"No need to get hostile," Teddy exclaimed, raising his hands in the air in surrender as he explained himself, his gaze resting on the wand secured tightly in Anya's small hand. "I'm here on auror business; you can ask Headmistress Quackenbush yourself if you don't believe me."

"_Sure_, okay then, _what_ auror business?" She hissed, reluctantly tucking her wand back into her robes as her crystal eyes remained narrowed into a suspicious glare.

"Auror business that I am not at the liberty to disclose," He replied calmly as she folded her arms over her chest with a sneer pulling across her plump lips. "But, I am still investigating those reports in your village and everything I do is done to protect others, including _you_ and _your mother_."

The snarl suddenly dropped from her lips, her arms unravelling, falling limp at her sides as she glanced up at Teddy softly, her light orbs wide with disbelief. Teddy felt a smile form across his lips as her anger evaporated, almost glad that he had eavesdropped on her conversation with the headmistress sufficiently enough to learn her anxiety over the safety of her mother and herself.

"Really?" She squeaked chewing her bottom lip as Teddy nodded gently, her gaze dropping to the floor. "I'm sorry for assuming otherwise."

She looked utterly adorable to Teddy as she spoke, her softened expression fragile and innocent. Her glossy lashes brushed gently over her fair, cherub cheeks which were tinged a light scarlet in embarrassment over her outburst as she bowed her head slightly, her ebony locks pouring over her shoulders to frame her uncomfortable expression. She was definitely not enjoying the embarrassment that followed her conclusion jumping. At the thought, Teddy arched an eyebrow at her in confusion, exactly _what _conclusions had she jumped to that would warrant such a hostile greeting as soon as he left the headmistress' office?

"What exactly did you assume?" He enquired.

"Well, I thought you were here following me," She mumbled sheepishly, fumbling her fingers over one another. "It was just all really suspicious and I got a bit paranoid."

Teddy felt his eyes widen, his jaw dropping at the accusation. She may have been scared about her safety and that of her mother–so much so that she even visited her headmistress to seek help–but that did not warrant such self-centred paranoia. He was almost offended by her thinking such a thing, failing to see how anything he did was remotely suspicious. Anya glanced up at him, baffled by his silence before her gaze turned into a murderous glare at his incredulous expression.

"You can_not _say that you weren't acting suspicious." She snapped furiously before he could say a single word as if reading his racing mind.

"How was I acting suspicious?" He challenged.

"Well let's see, first a strange man I didn't know turned up at my house, then came back the next day with reinforcements after I sent him away, then he turned up at the train station when I was about to leave for the school I told him I attend, and now he is actually at said school," She snarled mockingly. "How is that _not _suspicious behaviour?"

"I can explain all of that, it was my auror business and at the train station I was meeting–"

"How do you explain taking the form of Sam Wood when I came out of the headmistress' office then? Surely that isn't part of your training." She interrupted with a sneer.

She arched an eyebrow up at Teddy, awaiting his answer as he simply stood there dumbfounded. How had she known it was him? It was hard, nigh impossible, to see through a metamorphmagus' ability, unless you could peer into their mind and recognise it as their own. He had finished changing his appearance before she answered the door and a metamorphmagus could easily flawlessly replicate the appearance of another individual. He eyed her suspiciously as questions continued to swarm through his mind.

"How exactly did you know that was me and not the real Sam Wood?" He asked distrustfully as Anya simply rolled her eyes with a scoff at his suspicions.

"In case you didn't notice, you are still wearing the same clothes from the platform _and _Wood would be in the Hogwarts uniform by now, especially considering I_ saw_ him in it on the carriages," She stated in a matter-of-fact tone, clearly irked by his sceptical questioning. "So it doesn't exactly take a genius to realise that you were _not _the real Wood."

"Oh," Teddy muttered sheepishly, mentally cursing himself for not realising that crucial detail in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's fine," She sighed. "I won't hold your assumptions over your head, if you do the same for me."

"That's awfully mature of you, Anya," He teased playfully with a grin tugging across his lips as he ran a hand through his untameable mop of feathery black locks, ruffling them out of his handsome features. "And you have yourself a deal there."

"You can call me A.J.," She suggested as her rose petal lips curled into a small smile that simply made Teddy's grin grow even larger. "I prefer it to Anya."

"A.J. it is then. Is that what your friends call you?" Anya nodded gently in response, but interrupted Teddy before he could finish his point, easily anticipating his next comment.

"But that doesn't make you one of my friends," She stated jokingly, answering the question that he was soon to playfully ask. "That title is reserved for very special people."

"I'm not surprised, but I'll try my best to reach your standards and qualify for your friendship," Teddy exclaimed with a look of determination crawling across his features. "After all, being a soon-to-be auror has to get me a few extra points."

"We should probably get a move on; I'm missing the welcoming feast." She admitted, gesturing for Teddy to walk alongside her as they departed from the tower that held the Headmistress' office.

A comfortable silence settled between the pair, Teddy's smile remaining on his lips as he sauntered alongside Anya, lost in his joyful thoughts over the success of their casual, friendly conversation. It was only when she cleared her throat that he broke free of his thoughts, glancing down at her with raised eyebrows as she kept her gaze on the path ahead of them, folding her hands behind her back as she walked.

"Teddy," She began gently, although her true curiosity seeped through her neutral façade. "What made you want to be an auror?"

"Why do you ask?" He enquired in puzzlement.

It was a question he had been asked a lot by members of the ministry or aurors considering taking him on as an apprentice, but never by someone his age, let alone younger than him. Was she looking for the truth or a glorified version of how the life of an auror is utterly fulfilling and perfect? As so far, despite his interest in the work of aurors, all Teddy's training was turning out to be was a whole lot of hard work and confusion over young Anya herself.

"I was just curious," She murmured with a shrug of her shoulders. "I've only been back at Hogwarts for a few hours and the professors are already on our backs about what we'll be doing next year and our N.E.W.T.s and I was wondering how you're supposed to figure that all out at seventeen."

"Well, being an auror just seemed right for me, as typical as that may sound," His voice became solemn as he recalled the tragic passing of his parents, his head bowed to hide his mournful expression from Anya's piercing sky blue gaze. "My parents passed away when I was barely a year old fighting in the Second Wizarding War at Hogwarts itself, protecting the lives of others. So I guess that pushed me to want to protect lives as well from dark arts, plus my grandmother took me in immediately after I was orphaned and protected me without falter. All of these things and probably fifty more made me want to protect others,"

"And apart from my grandmother, everyone I have looked up to has been an auror. My mother was one in her day and my godfather is one as well. My father essentially filled the role of one, although he was not employed by the ministry due to certain _circumstances_ about his health, but he worked alongside the aurors and others in the Order of the Phoenix," He watched as her eyes widened, recognising the title of the now dissolved society that dedicated their efforts to battling the dark arts, more specifically Lord Voldemort. "Just trust me, you'll find something you're meant to do and you'll know it when that happens. You just can't expect it to happen on someone else's schedule."

"That's true," Anya murmured softly as her gaze drifted back to Teddy's fair features. "Thanks, Teddy, and I'm sorry about your parents."

Teddy smiled down at her, thanking her for her words before quickly steering the conversation onto a lighter note, enquiring what career paths she had already considered. Before he knew it, the pair stood before a pair of towering doors pressed tightly shut, concealing the gargantuan Great Hall within from which excited chatter leaked through.

"Hopefully I can slip in unnoticed." Anya muttered under her breath as she inspected the doors.

"I'd be more concerned about the food still being hot," Teddy joked. "But you had better head in anyway."

"Thanks for walking down here with me," She said sheepishly, her voice so low it was practically a whisper as she pressed her body against the towering doors before her tone twisted with malice, her eyes narrowing into a sour glare. "Oh joy, I get to join your imbecilic girlfriend at the Gryffindor table."

"Victoire is not that bad," Teddy defended as, whether his feelings for Anya remained as puzzling as ever or not, he still had a duty to defend the girl in question. Either that or he was trying to convince himself that Anya's venomous comments were not the truth. "She can be a really sweet girl."

"Yes, because boys really pay attention to her because she's sweet," Anya growled with a roll of her eyes. "You are delusional if you think that."

"Why do you hate her so much? Victoire has never done anything to you yet you are standing here belittling her with no provocation." He snapped, immediately regretting the words as they rolled off of his tongue.

Even he knew what he was saying wasn't true, having witnessed Victoire throwing foul insults Anya's way without reason with his own eyes. He wished he could retract the words back into his mouth, quickly dismissing his comment as Anya curled her hands into tight fists furiously.

"You and I both know I have been provoked," She hissed angrily before throwing her arms up into the air, storming into the hall as she snarled over her shoulder at Teddy. "You know what, bugger this. I don't know why I even care, you and your girlfriend can go get stuffed."

* * *

><p>Teddy leaned against the stone wall, feeling the chilled material send shivers down his spine as he lingered about the doors leading into the Great Hall. He had convinced himself to stay after an unsuccessfully search for Gunner, assuring himself that his comrade may be inside the hall speaking to Professor Plumly, insisting that he was not waiting by the doors to reach out to Anya and quickly apologise. It would merely be a coincidence if he just happened to find her and speak to her before he found Gunner. Teddy growled to himself, wanting nothing more than to plough his head through the stone wall his figure was leaning against, unsure as to why he felt the need to justify his being there or even apologise to Anya in the first place.<p>

Teddy tore himself from his perplexed thoughts as the doors to the hall swept open, a horde of fulfilled students now pouring out into the corridors, retreating to their respective common rooms. He quickly straightened himself upright, running his fingers through his ebony tangles, combing them about his visage as his gaze darted about the crowd, searching for a certain short figure toppled in glossy raven locks with brilliant baby blue eyes. He was so absorbed in his search that he didn't notice the tall, willowy figure darting towards him until a pair of lips met his own, the beholder's figure colliding into his own.

"Teddy, I'm so glad you made it here alright!" Victoire exclaimed through her excited kisses, her arms tightly draped around his neck as she pressed her slender figure into the dips and curves of his athletic one. "I was beginning to worry when I didn't get a visit from you."

She only retreated from his lips when he pried himself free of her arms, shuffling away from her figure in discomfort, irked by the inappropriate display of affection–for some reason that even Teddy himself could not understand, any other boy would be more than happy to be smothered in passionate kisses from a part Veela girl, or any good-looking girl for that matter.

"Sorry, Victoire, I was caught up at a meeting with the Headmistress."

"That old croon can ramble on for ages. McGonagall was definitely a better headmistress," Teddy arched an eyebrow at Victoire's words, resisting the urge to remind her that Quackenbush would not have the position of headmistress if she was not deemed suitable for it. "Now come with me, we can head back to the common room."

"Actually, I need to find Gunner," He explained as she pouted, folding her arms over her chest in sulking. "And speaking of the headmistress, she said something about seeing Slughorn. When do you next have Potions?"

"In a few days, why? Are you going to sit on our class?" She squealed with excitement, lacing her fingers through his tightly.

"I might see if Professor Slughorn will let me, but I can't guarantee anything." He replied with a shrug, but Victoire had already lost herself in the idea as she tugged Teddy towards the Gryffindor Tower alongside her.

As Teddy spent more time around her and her friends, Victoire parading him around as if he were a museum exhibit to gawk at, the more superficial _everything_ concerning Victoire seemed to Teddy as he began to want nothing more than to dust himself off and excuse himself from his girlfriend before fleeing back to the Three Broomsticks Inn. But, before he could act on his desires or even think about trying to find Anya to apologise as he had originally intended, Victoire would clasp her lips over his passionately, her hands leaving lingering flirtatious touches about his chiselled figure, distracting him from his thoughts and aggravation. There seemed to be only one thing that the Veela beauty of Victoire Weasley could not distract Teddy's inner thoughts from as he continuously glanced about the Gryffindor common room anxiously.

And _that_ was A.J.


	9. Potions Class

I hope to get this story finished by August 11th, which is when my surgery is. It just seems like a good time to get this done by. xD Hopefully I can do it without ruining the quality of the story by rushing. ^^ I guess I'll just have to see how things go when I'm further into the story and can estimate how many chapters are left. Anyway, enough of my rambling, onto chapter 9 we go.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>09. <strong>_Potions Class_

Teddy ruffled his fingers through his feathery raven locks, combing them about his fair features as he made his way through the dungeons of Hogwarts alongside Gunner, ignoring the baffled gazes the predominantly Slytherin students shot the foreign individuals, not recognising them as graduates. He had compressed his torso into a long-sleeved, black and grey striped top whilst straight-legged ebony jeans were moulded to his long legs, his ensemble remaining rather plain yet sufficiently formal for his presence in the boarding school.

Gunner, although too dressed more formal than casual, had chosen to stray away from the dark colours of Teddy's apparel as instead opting to slip his athletic torso into an ivory-coloured, button down collared shirt, the top two buttons left undone whilst his legs were hugged by a pair of slim-fitting, light azure coloured jeans. His dirty blonde tangles were left to fall loosely about his neck, framing his attractive features with his unruly bangs brushing over his dark amber orbs that twinkled with excitement.

"It feels bizarre being down here without going to Potions class, especially surrounded by all these Slytherins." Gunner admitted as he glanced about the horde of groggy students sluggishly making their way towards their classes.

"It shouldn't be that weird, we're still going to the Potions room even if it isn't to learn." Teddy replied with a shrug.

"That's true, and if Slughorn does let us sit in on his lesson, I hope the Crafting girl takes Advanced Potions," He exclaimed with excitement, rubbing his hands together, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. "I'm sure I can keep myself entertained with her around. Plus you must be excited to have more opportunities to see Victoire, if Slughorn agrees."

Teddy resisted the urge to simply shrug his shoulders once again in disinterest, clearly anything but excited to see more of Victoire after spending his days since his arrival in Hogsmeade slung around her arm, paraded around as if he were a polished slab of rare jewellery that all others would desire. He wondered if the girls Victoire surrounded herself with and raved on about him too found the whole situation–and company at the time–as superficial as he did. And now, as he made his way towards the Potions room to meet Professor Slughorn moments before the seventh year Advanced Potions class, he almost dreaded the fact that Victoire was a part of the class, silently praying that she would be focused on her work rather than him.

"I guess," He finally muttered a lacklustre response as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Things don't seem to be going so well for us though."

"Really?" Gunner blurted in disbelief, his playful tone now soft and serious. "But you two have been spending everyday together since we got here. What's happened?"

"Nothing important, it doesn't matter," Teddy replied, dismissing his friend's concerns as he gestured towards the towering iron-lined door they approached, which opened into their destination. "Besides, we need to focus on _this_."

With Gunner's head bobbing into a nod of agreement, the pair entered the Potions classroom, memories of their seven years spent within the room flooding over them as they glanced about it. The large, oval-shaped classroom was illuminated by tall windows plastered along the far walls, the drapes pulled back to allow slivers of sunlight to seep through, highlighting the dingy stone walls. Several work benches were dotted about the room, their surfaces stained from chaotic brews by less talented students, particularly first years, whilst a stone basin sat in the far corner for the cleaning of utensils and the hands–or any patch of uncovered skin–of said unlucky students.

Teddy's gaze settled on the short, rotund figure of the Potions Master Horace Slughorn, his stout build draped in extravagant, embroidered robes of deep velvet decorated in golden buttons. His back faced the pair, his small gooseberry-coloured eyes inspecting a shelf of portraits of valued students, featuring both Gunner and Teddy–although the latter's portrait was placed closer to the front due to the famous tales of his parents and his relation to the legendary Harry Potter. The professor's small ears perked up as the sound of footsteps over his cold stone floor echoed through the room, quickly turning around to face the pair, his thin lips curling into a smile, the corners disappearing beneath his enormous silver moustache that matched the thinning tangles dotted across his balding head in colour.

"Teddy Lupin!" He exclaimed jovially, bounding towards them with surprising agility for his elderly aged and claimed rheumatism. "What are you doing here? And Gunner, my boy!"

He clapped a hand around each boy's shoulders, despite their tall heights towering over his diminished one, clearly eager to see what had earned him such a visit as well as where the pair had progressed through since their years as one of his many students. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he scurried back to his desk, snatching a bottle labelled _Firewhiskey_ from one of the drawers, pouring each of them a glass of the tingling alcoholic beverage.

"What brings the two of you down here then?" Professor Slughorn asked after glugging down his firewhiskey, settling the glass to the side and eyeing the bottle carefully as if struggling not to keenly pour himself some more.

"In the field auror training," Teddy piped as he felt his throat electrify with a burning sensation as the liquid trickled down it before smirking at Gunner mockingly. "And the Three Broomsticks Inn and its innkeeper for Gunner."

"Madam Rosmerta _is _a beauty," Slughorn added with a grin that Gunner mirrored, holding back the immature urge to exclaim '_I told you so' _to Teddy. "And it's great to see the two of you are doing so well in your auror careers, most wouldn't be out in the field until their fourth or fifth years. You two were always some of the higher aspiring students in my class."

"Mikhail is also doing well," Teddy reminded. "He works closely with Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"After his job we reckon." Gunner added playfully.

"That's brilliant, I'll have to try and get in contact with my old student," Slughorn admitted, rubbing his plump hands together mischievously, planning to exploit his position as he did many others. "It's a shame your friend David Prew never took my potions class, connections with a popular Quidditch player can be very useful these days."

Teddy rolled his eyes at his teacher, but the grin on his lips didn't falter as the professor raved on about other students featured on his shelf that he was still in connection with along with the perks that accompanied such connections. Before he even started attending Hogwarts, Teddy was warned by his godfather of Slughorn's nature, his tendencies to collect students that were either extremely talented or had connections with fame, both categories Slughorn had placed Teddy into, Gunner instead fulfilling the former, despite his seemingly lazy work ethic. From their first days there, the pair along with Mikhail had been favourites of the professor, David not excelling at Potions as much as he did at Quidditch, his focus often on the next match rather than his homework.

Not only was Teddy a favourite, but his godfather and his family were too, often meaning the Potters and Weasleys would received visits from the professor that Teddy would be invited to, meaning it was practically impossible to escape Slughorn's claim to him. Although, lucky for him, he found the professor's presence rather amusing than tedious, his visits usually ending in a drunken haze on his part that Teddy would chuckle about for days afterwards.

"Now what kind of auror business has anything to do with Hogwarts?" Slughorn enquired after collecting the empty glasses from the pair, dumping them in the sink in the corner. "Surely it would be more exciting for two strapping young lads to be out in the wilderness searching for dark wizards then spending time in a basement with their old, unfit professors."

"Actually, we were hoping to sit in on your seventh year Advanced Potions class this morning." Teddy stated sheepishly with a wider grin at Slughorn's dumbfounded expression.

"Why in heavens would you want to do that? Surely you cannot have forgotten everything I taught you already nor do you want to listen to me ramble on about potions you've already learnt."

"We have been investigating reports of suspicious activity in a muggle village, similar to that of dark magic or even perhaps a dark creature and our search led us here," He explained. "Headmistress Quackenbush has let us have access to the school and its students for our investigation and we thought to come to you for more information on a certain student if she is in your Advanced Potions class."

"Well, I can assure you nothing of that sort has been reported around here, apart from within the Forbidden Forest and even then it is not any malicious attacks towards staff or students of Hogwarts." Slughorn defended his smile evaporating as he pursed his lips together into a straight line.

"We are more so trying to protect the student in question, especially as she is in one of the only wizarding families in the area and could be a target of the attacks or help us in learning more of them." Teddy replied gently, a little stunned as he had never seen the ever-jovial Potions Master so defensive over Hogwarts and its students.

"Which student did you want to ask me about then?" Slughorn asked a few moments later.

"Anya-Jeanne Crafting." Gunner and Teddy piped at the same time, Gunner's lips forming a crooked smile as he mulled over the thought of the attractive seventh year and the chance of running into her in the Potions room.

"Oh yes, she is in my Advanced Potions class," He stated, his grin cheerfully returning to his lips as he gestured towards the shelf of animated photographs. "I can promise you she will be making the shelf. She is a very talented young witch; she does far more N.E.W.T. level classes than any student in her year, having a knack for just about any subject from what other professors have told me, just like her mother."

"Really?" Gunner blurted in disbelief.

"Of course, I'm not even sure how she will narrow down her choices of careers in later life with the vast qualifications her knowledge will give her, she could do anything," Teddy smirked at the professor's words as he recalled his conversation with Anya about future aspirations. Perhaps she had chosen to take so many subjects for just that reason, as she couldn't decide where her future would take her and refused to place boundaries on what she could achieve. "I often wonder what her mother, Jeanne, ended up doing with her life, but Anya has never seemed keen to speak of it. She was just as talented as her daughter,"

"I was also her head of house way back when, making it into Slytherin rather than Gryffindor," Slughorn explained as he hunched over his desk, digging through the drawers in search of something as he spoke. "I wish Anya could have joined Slytherin, although at least I can be thankful for her placement in my class, which I will allow you two to sit in on. Aha, here it is!"

He exclaimed snatching out a tattered book from a pile of similarly bound ones in the bottom drawer of his desk, dusting off the top before presenting it to Teddy with a grin. The leather-bound book had the emblem of Hogwarts school printed on the front, a year scribbled just below it, indicating its origin as roughly nineteen years ago.

"Each year professors keep notes regarding our students and then compile them into one book for references. They are supposed to be kept in the library, but other professors rarely even glance at them so I have snatched a few from my tenure and stored them in my desk if I wish to look over any of my students," Teddy took the tome from Slughorn's hands, handling it delicately as if it would fall to pieces at any moment. "This is from Jeanne's last year at Hogwarts, probably about two years before Anya would have been born. Anything I can tell you about her mother will be in there, I never learned who her father was, but I am sure he was not a student of my Potions class or house."

"Thank you, Professor," Teddy replied gratefully as he tucked the book away into his bag. "We'll be careful with it and if we need any more information, we'll come to you."

"Good, I'll help you to the best of my abilities, these old ears do hear several things from gossiping students about the school corridors," Slughorn joked before gesturing towards a table alongside his desk. "Come now, class will start soon, you two'd best have a seat."

* * *

><p>Seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins rolled into the room, separating themselves according to houses as everyone took their seats. Anya settled herself at the work surface closest to Slughorn's desk, well-aware–that as in any classroom–those at the back rarely paid attention, instead opting to muck about ignorantly. Her glossy ebony tangles were tied back loosely, several strands falling free to frame her porcelain features along with her side-swept bangs which skimmed above her crystal orbs. After taking her seat, her eyes glanced Teddy's way, widening slightly in shock with her eyebrows arched as he simply smiled softly at her, her lips about to curl into a small grin of her own when the well-built figure on Sam Wood crashed down beside her, slinging an arm around her shoulder and whispering to her seductively. She growled at him, pushing him off and ordering him to retreat to another table. When he did not move, she simply rolled her eyes, propping her elbows up onto the table before resting her slanted jaw on her tight fists, ignoring the flirtatious boy beside her as she waited for the lesson to begin.<p>

Teddy wanted nothing more than to march over there and forcibly tug the boy's figure away from Anya, but he managed to control himself. He felt Gunner's elbow nudge him in the ribs, breaking his trance of envy over Sam's close proximity to the aggravated Anya as he glanced at Gunner who gestured towards one of the counters a few rows back from Anya. Victoire wiggled her fingers into a seductive wave, beckoning for Teddy to join her and Celestina at their table with a smirk on her plump lips. Teddy glanced about the room as if looking for an escape before sighing and making his way towards the table, tugging Gunner along with him who happily went, eager to get to know the gorgeous girl that sat alongside Victoire.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She beamed, moving to crash her lips into Teddy's but he simply shifted away with a frown.

"Victoire, this isn't really the best time to be doing _that_," He scolded. "You are supposed to be learning and I am supposed to be doing my job."

"Jeez, Teddy, don't be so uptight. If a gorgeous girl pays attention to you, enjoy it, what's wrong with you?" Gunner questioned with a roll of his amber eyes before returning his gaze to Celestina who giggled at him flirtatiously, fingering the collar of his shirt, whispering to him gently.

"We just need to focus right now." He snarled, although he couldn't help but agree with Gunner.

What _was _wrong with him? Any other guy would be more than happy to have his face snogged off by Victoire Weasley, no matter where it was. Then again, just because any other guy would want something, didn't mean Teddy had to. As he continued to delve deeper into his thoughts, Victoire refused to pry her hands off of Teddy, planting kisses about any patch of exposed skin as she ran her hands up and down his thigh. Not only was this distracting him from what he was there to do, but it was making him horrifically uncomfortable, especially in front of the various curious gazes settled upon him and Gunner as strangers in the Potions classroom. The only thing he could take solace in what that as he watched Anya, he noticed her eyes were focused on the front of the room where Slughorn strolled about, explaining the potion they would be brewing, at least she was not seeing Victoire's escapades.

"Before we begin brewing, we have two new faces in our class today as you may have noticed," Slughorn announced, eyeing Teddy knowingly as if aware of his discomfort and annoyance. "They are two students of mine from a few years ago and are here to help out around class as well as go about their own business,"

"Come, Teddy, perhaps you could help Miss Crafting and Mister Wood with their brews." He suggested, gesturing for Teddy to join the pair at the table, an offer he would have been an utter moron to refuse.

He quickly climbed to his feet, ignoring Victoire's sulking pout as he moved towards the work surface, obeying the suggestion.

"Professor Slughorn," Anya protested before Teddy could even settle his bag upon the tabletop. "I thought I was one of the top of the class, I shouldn't need any aid with my brews. Maybe Wood does, but I don't."

"That may be so, but Teddy was an amazing student of mine, even making the shelf," Slughorn retorted in a matter-of-fact tone, but his kind expression still remained. "You two may find you have more in common than you realise."

"I do _not _need any help." Anya groaned with a roll of her eyes, frowning at Teddy.

"I never said you did," Teddy reminded coyly as she withdrew her Potions textbook from her bag, peeling it open to a page regarding the potion they were to brew. "But I can still give you a few tips as I have already done my N.E.W.T. exams and done exceptionally well. Plus a little advice never hurt anyone."

"I _know _you don't need any help, love," Sam intercepted with a smirk of his own. "You are exceptionally beautiful and intelligent–"

"Shut up and get on with your brew, Wood," She snapped angrily, narrowing her eyes into a murderous glare at him. "Don't talk to me again or I'll beat you to death with a ladle."

Teddy couldn't help but grin at her attitude, resisting the urge to smirk at Sam triumphantly as Anya sauntered off to retrieve her supplies. After settling up her cauldron, she began slicing up the ingredients with ease, skilfully crushing each one to the required consistency before adding it to the concoction, Teddy watching over her every movement, ensuring she did not make a single mistake, although he had a feeling she wouldn't. Sam Wood, however, received neither attention nor guidance from Teddy. In fact, he secretly prayed Sam might singe his eyebrows off as he messily threw his brew together, unable to match the skill of Anya beside him.

"Why are you sitting in on our Potions class?" Anya asked gently as she stirred her brew, her eyes never leaving the cauldron as she spoke.

"Gunner and I thought it might be nice to pay Professor Slughorn a visit and he welcomed us into the class for the morning." Teddy replied, leaving out the key detail that he had visited the professor to gain more information on Anya.

"Well he'd hate to upset one of his prodigies," She joked lightly. "How have your first few days here been?"

"They've been alright, although I haven't been in the best of company." He admitted with a frown.

"You could say that again," She muttered with a roll of her eyes, clearly not ashamed of her distaste towards Victoire and her friends. "Teddy, could you stir this for a minute?"

He quickly agreed, taking the ladle from her and obeying her request as she added the next ingredient into the brew. Conversation bubbled between the two for the rest of the lesson as they continued to joke lightly, Teddy complimenting her potion skills as she simply smiled shyly in response. Every moment spent around her overwhelmed him with joy as he could not bite back a smile, remaining blissfully ignorant to the many sets of eyes upon him and Anya, ignorant to the infuriated glare of Sam Wood, the knowing gaze of Professor Slughorn, the curious stare of Gunner Macmillan, and the envious glower of Victoire Weasley.


	10. Anya Or Victoire

Here we are chapter 10. I think I have a splurge of inspiration for this story because I'm still so hyped up from part 2 of the Deathly Hallows film.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>10. <strong>_Anya Or Victoire_

The class ended far sooner than Teddy would've liked, the time spent sitting beside Anya, watching her as she busied herself about her potion quickly flying by until their conversation was interrupted by Slughorn as he called for the class' attention. He clapped his hands together and ordered the students to cease their brewing; leaving their potions capped on their desks for him to mark once they had departed. Anya pushed her stood away from the desk, climbing to her feet as Teddy did the same, Sam Wood already standing, lingering about Anya's side as he glared at Teddy lividly.

"What are you still doing here, Wood?" She hissed with a deadpan expression on her attractive face, clearly not interested in dealing with her classmate's annoying antics.

"I thought I'd walk with you to your next class." He replied, not lifting his glare from Teddy's triumphantly smirking features.

"Has the blood not returned to your brain after the last time you invited a girl to your dorm?" She snarled with a roll of her eyes. "Get the hell away from me and leave me alone, I have _no _interest in you or your company. Now run along back to the little whores you surround yourself with."

Sam scoffed, glancing at Anya as he reluctantly obeyed, shooting Teddy one last murderous glare before stalking out of the classroom to join the horde of girls that awaited him, including Celestina Devereux. Teddy resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Victoire's friend as he slung his bag over his shoulder, gazing at Anya curiously.

"What is the deal with the Wood kid and you?" He asked slowly, hoping that her disdain for the Quidditch player was not based off of a wayward romance between the two.

"He's an annoying pig who never leaves me alone because I don't fawn at his feet as if I have no self-respect," She replied, running her thumb under the strap of her bag as she settled it on her shoulder. "He's an absolute moron who has taken too many bludgers to the head and can't comprehend that I don't have any interest in him, not now, not ever."

"That's good; he does seem like a complete imbecile," Teddy agreed, unable to contain the grin that spread across his lips at her hatred of Sam Wood. "Good luck with your potions assignment; I don't see why you wouldn't get an Outstanding, your brew was near perfect."

"Thanks," She murmured, ducking her head to shadow her features behind curtains of her dark locks, but Teddy didn't need to see her features to know she was blushing shyly at his compliment as she had done with the many others he had given her during the lesson. "Hopefully Professor Slughorn will agree."

"I don't see why he wouldn't." He assured as the pair moved away from the work surface, sauntering towards the door until Slughorn's cheerful voice interrupted the duo.

"Anya, could you stay here a moment please?" He piped as she glanced from Teddy to her professor before nodding in agreement. "And bring Teddy with you as well."

Teddy shrugged his shoulders before following Anya towards the plump figure of Professor Slughorn who stood by his desk, his arms folded neatly upon his barrel-shaped abdomen, ceasing his velvet robes. He glanced past the pair for a minute, silently waving off the few lingering figures including Victoire and Gunner, pursing his lips into a line until the entire room was empty. A smile broke out across his face, the edges of his moustache shadowing his mouth as he returned his attention to Teddy and Anya.

"I won't take too much of your time, I would just like to make an offer to the pair of you," He began. "As you may have guessed, Teddy, Miss Crafting is a member of my Slug Club as you once were and as you will be visiting our school once again, I hoped you might attend our meetings, mingle with the students especially after your fantastic marks in Advanced Potions,"

He clapped a meaty hand around Teddy's shoulder in approval before shifting his gaze to Anya.

"And I wanted to give you the task of informing him when I announce a meeting and escorting Teddy to where it will take place," He chuckled to himself, glancing back at the door that led out into the corridor. "And you should bring Gunner with you, best not to leave him alone in the Three Broomsticks; I know all too well what happens to a man when left alone with a beauty such as Madam Rosmerta and a fresh supply of butterbeer."

Teddy and Anya exchanged glances as they swept out of the room, being kindly dismissed by Slughorn as he moved to mark the brews the seventh year potioneers had created. A stiff, awkward silence settled between them as they loitered in the corridor that rimmed the Potions room, pondering the instructions each of them had been given whilst unsure of what to say to one another. Teddy glanced down at Anya's thoughtful expression and cleared his throat, preparing to speak up as although he loved the idea of spending far more time than necessary with the Crafting girl, he did not intend to force her into anything, reluctantly offering her a way out of the deal struck by his old professor.

"You don't have to do everything Slughorn said if you don't want to," He stated, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he forced a grin across his lips. "I'm sure you have better things to do. I could try and find everything myself, if you'd prefer that."

She pursed her lips together, narrowing her eyes as she mulled over the offer, considering her response. Before Teddy could begin to worry that she was going to gladly take him up on his offer and limit their time together, a smile broke out across her plump, rosy lips.

"Trust me, Slughorn knows everything, he'll find out one way or another if I don't help you out," She joked, shaking her head with a soft laugh. "Besides, I wouldn't want to risk you getting lost in the castle, especially if I get the blame."

"Oh, so not because you fear for my safety or anything?" He teased back.

"Nope," Her grin grew as she spoke. "The next meet of the Slug Club is this Friday; it's sort of like a '_welcome back to Hogwarts'_ dinner and is supposed to be formal."

"Well then, that _is _short notice, but I should be able to throw something together in time."

"Great, I'll come get you from your room just before it starts," She suggested. "Where is it?"

"I'm staying at the Three Broomsticks Inn actually; staying here seemed a step too far just for an auror investigation." He admitted, unable to contain the grin that broke out across his own features at the sight of her smile.

"That's even better; it's the perfect excuse for me to grab some butterbeer without having to go down with the rest of my year on a Hogsmeade weekend," She replied optimistically, her now cheerful–Teddy would dare to even say almost _bubbly_–attitude flooding over Teddy, his heart thumping against his chest vigorously. "Just be ready by early evening, as Slughorn said, it's best not to be left alone with such a supply of butterbeer for too long. Although I'm not so sure Madam Rosmerta will have the same effect on my as she does him."

"Probably not." He laughed back.

He struggled to resist the urge to blurt out a–most likely cheesy–comment about how exceptionally beautiful she was herself, half out of the embarrassment of saying such a thing and half out of fear of her punching him square in the jaw. She was definitely _not _your average girl and he had no idea how she would react, unable to compare her with any girl he had ever met. After a few more moments of pleasant conversation between the pair, joking softly with smiles on their faces, a snarling voice interrupted them, Teddy feeling his heart sink in his chest.

"What the hell is going on?" Victoire snapped, stomping towards Teddy with her deep sapphire eyes narrowed into a furious glare at Anya.

She grabbed hold of her boyfriend's arm, gripping it tightly, pulling him towards her and crashing her lips into his, her lips moving fast against his stunned ones. Meanwhile Gunner observed the scene from where Victoire once stood, his eyebrows arched, his amber eyes holding a curious stare as Teddy quickly pried himself free of her grasp, his worried gaze darting towards Anya's shocked expression.

"Calm down, Victoire." Teddy hissed through his teeth, his eyes becoming matte black in irritation as he tore her hands off of him with a frown pulling at his lips.

"Don't pretend you don't love it just because _she _is here," She scolded, returning her glare to Anya's features which were now pinching together into an irritated expression. "Why don't you run along to class? Your little friends might be missing you–oh wait, I forget you have _none_."

"At least I don't spread my legs as easily as butter on toast," Anya snapped back, glaring at Victoire with malice. "And you're pathetic if you think those imbeciles you hang out with are your friends. You wouldn't know a true friend if it smacked you around the face, then again, you wouldn't know a word with more than two syllables either."

"Yeah because all those big words and books of yours must have loads of boys drooling over you," Victoire challenged sarcastically, squeezing Teddy's arm possessively as she spoke. "It won't get you _my _Teddy, that's for sure; he's just too nice to tell you to bugger off himself."

"I can speak for myself, Victoire–" He began.

"No need, I've sorted this little mess out for you," She interrupted, flipping her tumbling strawberry blonde locks over her shoulder, exposing the fang earrings dangling from her ears before glaring down at Anya once more. "Now run along."

"You don't _own _Teddy, unlike you he's intelligent enough to form his own opinions and speak for himself." Anya snarled defensively, folding her arms over her chest.

Her infuriated expression faltered for a mere second as her eyes flickered towards Teddy, sadness twinkling in their sky blue colour before they resettled on Victoire, narrowing with disdain as the blonde-haired seventh year retorted with a scoff.

"Yes he is and he has chosen _me_ and always will," She leaned towards Anya, a snide smile spreading across her plump lips. "So hurry back to your hole and leave _my _boyfriend alone."

"Victoire stop. A.J. please don't–" Teddy began.

"Whatever," She muttered, turning on her heel and stalking down the hallway. "I have to get to class."

"I'll see you this Friday," Teddy called desperately, unable to chase after her as Victoire anchored him to the ground, her nails digging into the sleeves of his top as he craned his neck to face her. "What was that for, Victoire? You were _completely _out of line; you had no right to speak to her like that."

"I had _every _right to do what I did," She corrected. "What would you do if a boy was all over me?"

"She wasn't all over me," He growled furiously. "And I would _never _speak to one of your friends like that–"

"_One of your friends_?" She repeated, sneering in utter disbelief as she barked out a cruel laugh. "That bitch is _not _one of your friends, she is _nobody's _friend."

"I can choose my own friends and she _is _one, I don't choose your friends for you nor do you choose mine," Teddy stated, finally shaking off Victoire's grasp. "You need to apologise to her, she didn't deserve it in the slightest."

"And I deserved what she said to me? I didn't provoke her, _she _started all of this," Teddy stared at her incredulously, eyes wide in disbelief at how immature and dismissive Victoire was being. Noticing his stare, she pushed her lips into a pout, pressing her body to his, fingering his tie seductively as she glanced up at him innocently. "I promise I'll make it up to you, just come back to my dorm with me, I can skip the rest of my morning classes."

"You just don't get it; I don't have time for that."

"Of course you do." She protested, pressing her lips to his jaw.

"Actually, Victoire, we actually do have an appointment back in Hogsmeade," Gunner intercepted before Teddy could erupt into anger, his words causing her to part from her boyfriend's figure reluctantly. "That's why I had to wait for him. If we don't get going now, we'll be late."

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes, really," Teddy quickly responded, slipping away from her to stand beside Gunner. "And you had best get going to your class; I don't want to distract you from your learning."

She grinned, blindly accepting their response as truth as she pecked Teddy on the lips, bidding Gunner farewell before sauntering down the hallway towards her next lesson, swinging her hips as she went. Once she was out of sight, Teddy felt his shoulders slump, his whole body relaxing as he exhaled deeply.

* * *

><p>His relaxation after the encounter between both women was short-lived as Gunner cleared his throat as the pair exited Hogwarts, walking along the dirt road leading towards Hogsmeade. Teddy glanced his way curiously, noticing his suspicious, narrowed gaze.<p>

"What is going on with you, Teddy?" Gunner hissed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "What happened back there with Anya?"

"Gunn, nothing happened with A.J." He protested.

"Yet you are calling her by such a friendly name," He replied, arching an eyebrow at the metamorphmagus. "I've known you for over eight years, Teddy, now tell me what's going on."

"I promise you, nothing–"

"Don't lie to me, I know you better than that," Gunner's usually casual voice was now serious, his lowered tone demanding that Teddy listen to what he was saying. "Do you _like _Anya now?"

"What? No!" He shouted far too defensively, glaring at Gunner furiously. "Don't even ask me stupid questions like that."

"Well, you're sure as hell acting like you do," He admitted before reluctantly letting the point go, noticing Teddy's hair become an infuriated bright scarlet, his eyes ebony with aggravation at his questioning. "Fine, I'll drop it. But I want answers and I want them soon."

Teddy rolled his eyes at his friend, storming into the Three Broomsticks Inn with Gunner close behind. He muttered a farewell over his shoulder before ascending the stairs, ignoring Gunner's suspicious gaze as he burst into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. He groaned in aggravation, throwing his bag across the room before collapsing onto his bed.

He hated speaking to Gunner in such a way, but even he didn't know the answers to such questions. He didn't know why he felt so infuriated by Victoire these days yet so euphoric around Anya, nor why he felt compelled to defend her rather than his own girlfriend. He didn't know why the idea of going to Slughorn's welcoming feast alongside Anya excited him so greatly. He didn't know any of the answers to the questions that swarmed his own psyche, let alone those in Gunner's. The more he didn't know, the angrier he got, only the image of Anya's beautiful porcelain features calming the storm in his mind, but he just couldn't figure out _why_.


	11. Drinking And Dinner

Oh right, I meant to do this at 10. XD But: WOO DOUBLE DIGITS! 8D OH YEEEAAAH. Okay, I'm good. On with the chapter we go. And by the way, the way I imagine Teddy drunk is utterly hilarious. xD

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>11. <strong>_Drinking And Dinner_

Hours later, a knock echoed through Teddy's room, waking him from the peaceful slumber he had drifted into. He peeled his eyes open, reluctantly dragging himself upright, slowly making his way towards the door from which another knock erupted from impatiently. He rolled his dark eyes, leaning against the wall as he flung the door open to reveal Gunner's athletic figure lingering in the hallway, his toned arms crossed over his chest in sulking.

"I've been knocking for ages," He muttered with a frown on his lips. "I didn't think we were teenage girls who ignore one another after an argument."

"I wasn't ignoring you," Teddy protested, rubbing the palms of his hands against his eyes groggily. "I was sleeping."

"You were sleeping in the middle of the day?" Gunner arched an eyebrow at his comrade, a crooked smile spreading across his lips. "Christ, you _are _getting old; soon you'll be going to bed before nine along with your naps and complaining about youth these days."

"If you're here to mock me, I'd rather just go back to sleep." He muttered.

"Actually, I'm here to tell you to get some clean clothes on and come downstairs, Mikhail and David are here," Gunner stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's nearly six, you can't go back to sleep now."

"It's nearly _six_?" He blurted in wide-eyed disbelief. He knew he had been asleep for a while, but he didn't think he had been for the entire day. "You're right, I _am _getting old. I guess I'll be down in a minute."

"Great, I'll get you a butterbeer whilst we wait." Gunner exclaimed, saluting Teddy before marching down the hallway with a crooked grin on his handsome face.

As he tugged off his top, quickly replacing it with a jet black button-down shirt, Teddy wondered if Gunner was using the visit of Mikhail and David to prod more information out of him regarding Anya and his relationship with Victoire. The thought made Teddy's smiling lips flip into a frown and he quickly shook it from his mind, reassuring himself that he had no reason to be suspicious of his comrade and even if he did, he had no intention of answering any such questions. He glanced himself over in the mirror, ruffling his fingers through his ebony mop of hair, combing it out of his fair features before darting out of the room, quickly making his way towards the pub below.

The smoky room was crowded with figures, the pub's regular customers eagerly pouring inside to drown a long day of work in a pint of butterbeer. Teddy grinned at the familiar faces of Hogsmeade, a warm welcoming atmosphere flooding over him as he made his way towards a table in the back, the one his quartet of friends had claimed as their own since their first arrival in the Three Broomsticks years ago. A pair of large, azure blue eyes hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses noticed him first, Mikhail raising a hand high in the air, gesturing for Teddy to join them. He grinned, eagerly obeying as he weaved through the bodies crowding the pub before collapsing into a chair beside Gunner.

"Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty." Gunner greeted him with a cheeky grin before sliding an untouched pint of butterbeer to Teddy.

"Yeah, yeah, you're hilarious Gunn, now drink your butterbeer," Teddy dismissed him with a roll of his eyes before turning his attention to the duo that completed their quartet. "So how have you two been?"

David grunted glugging down the rest of his drink as he shook his head, fringes of his cropped sand-coloured locks falling into his handsome, sun-kissed features. He straightened his tall, muscled figure, stretching his arms out with a smirk on his lips as he answered Teddy.

"Been spending some quality time with Cristina, you know how it is, been really breaking my back with her." He snickered, nudging Mikhail who frowned in disapproval at his perverse thoughts.

"Why women are attracted to vulgarity such as you, I'll never know." He retorted, adjusting his glasses upon the bridge of his bottom nose with a roll of his eyes.

"I think you're just jealous," David exclaimed with a bark of laughter. "All that time spent in an office isn't going to get you anywhere with the ladies. Plus it helps if you have _these_."

He flexed his muscles with a proud grin, Mikhail simply groaning in distress as Gunner and Teddy sniggered along with David who continued to rave on vainly about his women-centred adventures. Their conversations always seemed to descend into mocking or irritating Mikhail whenever the quartet got together, Teddy realised, Mikhail filling the role as the more level-headed, serious member of their group, earning himself the title of the perfect target for their mockery. Not to mention his overdramatic, aggravated reactions were quite hilarious as well.

"All this pissing off Mik is making me thirsty," David exclaimed, climbing to his feet and dusting off the skin-tight shirt that clung to the dips and crevices of his torso. "Do you guys want anything?"

"Another butterbeer is good for me." Gunner replied with Teddy seconding the notion as Mikhail scoffed.

"I'm fine keeping my alcohol content on the appropriate level," He replied with a shake of his head. "Somebody has to fly Dave home."

"And that will always be you, kid." David teased, ruffling his hand through Mikhail's mousy brown curls before wandering off to the bar to collect the next round of drinks.

"You two encourage him far too much." Mikhail scolded, narrowing his eyes at the pair sitting across from him.

"Jeez, sorry Mother." Gunner mocked as Teddy drank down the last few drops of his butterbeer.

"I'm going to be stuck with Gunn for ages, so you don't get to complain about Dave," Teddy stated. "And at least Dave can't bother you at work or mooch off your work."

"Hey, I resent that. I do my part." Gunner challenged.

"You spent the entire Potions class we sat in on ogling over Victoire's friend Celestina, how is that doing your part?"

"You spent the entire Potions class chatting up Anya, so you're not one to talk." He replied coyly, his cheeky grin back of his face as Teddy frowned, glaring murderously at his friend.

"Who's Anya?" Mikhail piped.

"No one," Teddy seethed. "Gunn has clearly drowned the last remaining slivers of his sanity in that glass of butterbeer."

Before an argument could ensue between the pair as Gunner wanted nothing more than to prod Teddy for more answers over Anya, David arrived back at the table, a wide grin on his face, exposing his pearly white teeth. He set the drinks down on the table before slamming down a tall bottle of glistening liquid, the cork held in his free hand.

"Madam Rosmerta says this mead is on the house for her _favourite_ boys," He explained, mimicking her flirtatious voice as he climbed back into his feet. "So drink up."

After the trio downed the bottle of the sickly sweet, honey-derived alcohol–with Mikhail only taking occasional sips, making sure he remained sober enough to transport David and himself back home–the night rapidly became filled with endless amounts of alcohol and the later it got, the drunker the trio became. The night eventually ended in David slurring over his chat up lines to a woman a few years older than himself in the corner of the pub, Gunner giggling hysterically as Teddy's colouring bounced from one to another, even his skin going from its pale natural colour to bubble gum pink then onto other bright neon colours as Mikhail couldn't bite back his laughter, their drunken states giving him his only chance to mock his mockers.

This was exactly what Teddy needed, no thinking, no sense, no girls, no questions, just him and his friends, his mind wiped clean of its chaotic thoughts, a moment of peace through his confusion. But he knew it wouldn't last and soon enough he'd have to answer the questions he was dreading.

* * *

><p>Teddy's bright emerald eyes glanced over his appearance in the murky mirror, an ebony coloured dress shirt clinging to his slender yet chiselled torso, the hem not tucked into his trousers whilst the top button of the top was left undone. A pair of similarly coloured slacks moulded to his long legs, ashen pinstripes running down them, his dark ensemble contrasting his fair complexion. His mop of hair was combed neatly out of his features, although a few stray strands fell free of their position to defiantly frame his face, his tangles jet black in colour for the formal occasion–although he struggled to prevent them from becoming an electric blue with excitement.<p>

Tonight was the night of Slughorn's welcome back dinner and the first time he would be seeing Anya since her run-in with Victoire days ago as he had not seen either girl since the incident, still struggling to sift through his mess of puzzled thoughts. But tonight was the night; he would apologise profusely for Victoire's behaviour and would be conversing casually with Anya once again by the end of the evening, he hoped.

"Let's go already." Gunner groaned from the doorway, ruffling his hand through his shaggy dirty-blonde locks impatiently.

He had dressed himself in a pair of plain black slacks, shimmering dress shoes, and an ivory dress shirt with a slim ebony tie threaded through the collar. He had not been thrilled at the idea of attending one of Slughorn's dinners when Teddy told him of their invitation after the pair had groggily awoken from their night of drinking. However, after a large amount of prodding on Teddy's part, he reluctantly agreed to attend, especially at the prospect of more firewhiskey from Slughorn himself as well as the chance to pick up any talented young witches at the dinner.

"Why are you so impatient? You didn't even want to go in the first place." Teddy retorted as he swept out of his room, Gunner in tow.

"Well you bullied me into coming so I don't want to waste any time or risk getting there when the food gets cold," He challenged before his lips tugged into a crooked grin as Teddy finished locking his room. "Finally, let's go."

"A.J. should be waiting for us downstairs." He reminded Gunner who simply grinned wider.

"Oh yeah, _Anya _should be." He replied coyly, smirking at Teddy's use of an informal nickname towards the seventh year.

"Bugger off, Gunn." Teddy growled, his eyes becoming matte black with irritation.

But, as he reached the foot of the stairs, his aggravation evaporated, his eyes and mop of hair becoming a bashful, stunned rosy pink at the sight of Anya's figure perched upon a stool settled beside the door, a tattered leather-bound book cradled in her hands. A white, chiffon blouse clung to her torso, outlining the curves of her hourglass figure; the sleeves fell to her fingertips, shadowing the charm bracelet dangling about her wrist. The hem of her top fell to her mid-thigh whilst her slender legs were covered by a pair of ebony-coloured, skin-tight leggings; her small feet slipped into a pair of pale ballet flats. Her silky raven locks fell about her back in a waterfall of gentle curls, framing her figure whilst her side-swept bangs were pinned out of her attractive visage with a silver clip decorated by a small black kitten charm. She looked utterly adorable.

Her sky blue orbs darted up from her book, gazing over the pair as a small smile spread across her plump lips, her features free of any make-up or enhancements, her beauty completely exposed. She tucked a bookmark into her book before slamming it shut, slipping it away into the minute bag slung around her shoulder as she climbed to her feet.

"Sorry if we kept you waiting." Teddy greeted her sheepishly after regaining his composure, forcing his hair to its usual raven colour and his eyes into an eager azure blue.

"It's okay, you didn't. The dinner doesn't start for another ten minutes so we shouldn't be late if we leave now." She explained, gesturing for the duo to follow her out of the buzzing inn.

"How have things been going over the last few days?" Teddy asked as they made their way towards Hogwarts, Gunner lingering behind the duo, watching with his eyebrows arched in amusement, a smirk on his lips.

"Good thanks, slowly readjusting to being back at school," She replied with a shrug of her shoulders before tilting her head up to glance at Teddy inquisitively, his tall figure towering over her miniature one. "I noticed you haven't sat in on any of our other Potions classes."

"I guess we just didn't want to disrupt anything further, we got what we were looking for," He murmured, although truth be told, he was ashamed of what had happened after the first lesson and he did not want to see Victoire after how she had treated Anya, fearing what he might say to his girlfriend in irritation. "Look, I wanted to say sorry for how Victoire treated you the other day. You didn't deserve it at all. She just doesn't think sometimes about what she says nor can she accept when she is in the wrong."

"You don't need to apologise for her. She said everything, not you, and I'm not an immature little girl who is going to blame you for what she did," Anya stated in a matter-of-fact tone before dropping her gaze to the ground, lowering her voice to almost a whisper. "But, if you think those things about her, then why are you even dating her?"

Teddy pursed his lips together, his gaze darting away from Anya to settle on the doors they approached leading into the Hogwarts castle. He wasn't exactly sure why he was still dating her anymore and, judging by his silent response, he was fairly sure Anya knew of his uncertainty as she simply nodded to herself, letting the topic go immediately. The rest of the walk to Slughorn's office was silent as Teddy lost himself in his thoughts, something he was finding himself doing quite regularly as he searched impatiently for the answers to the many questions he–and others it appeared–harboured regarding his recent actions and feelings.

However, once they waltzed into the room, he quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, opting to enjoy the dinner party–and Anya's company–instead. Slughorn's office was large, even larger than Teddy remembered from his years as a Slug Club member, with a fireplace on the far corner surrounded by two large, plush sofas with double doors opening out onto a private balcony to the left. A round dinner table sat in the centre of the room, six students sitting at it along with Slughorn himself who grinned with delight at the arrivals that completed the scene.

"You three are just in time," He exclaimed, gesturing to the steaming plates of food placed about the table before knowingly allocating each of them a seat. "Gunner, why don't you come sit by me and Penelope Banks here? Her father runs the Daily Prophet. And Teddy and Anya, you two can sit over there between Silas and Serena Flint."

The trio broke apart, complying with the professor's orders and taking their seats before following Slughorn's lead and digging into their extravagant meals. Teddy was barely able to stop himself from shovelling in all the food at once, having forgotten how delicious the meals at Hogwarts really were after he spent over a year fending for himself, making meals that took only the bare minimum level of cooking skills.

"You seem hungry." Anya chuckled before nibbling on a roast parsnip daintily, politely making her way through her meal.

"Sorry," He muttered in embarrassment after swallowing his mouthful of food, slowing down his eating as he suddenly felt nervous knowing she was watching him. "It's just when you have to cook for yourself, you sort of cook very plain meals. So when times like this come, you better eat before someone takes it away from you."

To his surprise, she chuckled even more at his response, shaking her head as a grin broke out across her rose petal lips.

"You really do make adulthood sound appealing," She teased gently. "I spent all this time stressing out about what career I would choose and I completely forgot about actually living as an adult."

"Maybe you just shouldn't choose to be an auror, it's not a partygoer aspiration," He replied with a smile of his own. "Nor does it pay particularly well whilst you're training."

"Yet you enjoy it oh so much."

"You've got a point there. I'm starting to think I just enjoy torturing myself." He joked, although he had to notice some truth in his words, his life was not exactly easy at the moment.

"I wouldn't be surprised," She admitted. "After all, you came back to see me after our rather rude first meeting and definitely didn't give up turning up everywhere even with all my threats."

"Are you complaining?" Teddy asked playfully with an arch of his eyebrows as she pursed her lips together into an expression of false musing until her lips curled into a smirk and she responded with a chuckle.

"I haven't quite decided yet. You'll just have to wait and see."


	12. The Discovery

Well, here it is. The inevitable time jump. D; *sobs* But oh well, I sort of had to do it at some point or else all the passing chapters in the period that would've been the time jump would just be incredibly boring fillers. xD So sorry, but here we go.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>12. <strong>_The Discovery_

The next few weeks passed by far quicker than Teddy could have ever anticipated, his days spent grinning and laughing passing by in practically the blink of an eye. After the Slug Club welcome back dinner, he sat in on all the seventh year Advanced Potions classes, tucked neatly next to Anya at her desk, watching as she busied herself about her work with light conversation fluttering between the two. He noticed a change in himself over the passing weeks as he spent his time amongst Anya, only seeing Victoire in the lessons he sat in on, he was overwhelmed with euphoria, even his contempt for Victoire evaporating away. But, he began to wonder if it was a case of _absence makes the heart grow fonder _or _out of sight, out of mind_.

He also wondered what was stopping him from breaking up with Victoire, he had considered doing it several times as time went on, but could never even bring himself to face her, let alone announce the end of their relationship. He soon realised why that was as he made his way through the winding corridors of Hogwarts, passing by the children of his godfather and Victoire's many cousins, grinning at them and greeting their excited expressions. He couldn't bring himself to break up with her because he wasn't just risking her despising him for doing such a thing, but he was risking those he considered his surrogate family sharing such contempt towards him for hurting their blood kin.

He would lose the comforting arms, the listening ears, the grinning lips, the welcoming meals that the Weasleys and the Potters greeted him with, little Lily Potter even going so far as to proclaim him her own family and express her desire that Victoire and him would marry, tying him to their families forever. Teddy had shared her desire at first, blinded by the beauty and charm of a Veela–and the love and comfort of the Weasleys and Potters–but he had been naive, naive to rush into a relationship with someone after a few passionate kisses and lingering touches, naive to almost tie their relationship to her whole family, risking their disdain if he were to end it.

He knew he had to though, it was wrong to keep such a thing going when he had already abandoned any romantic feelings for Victoire, it was not only unfair on him to keep himself locked in the relationship, but it was unfair on her too. He kept reminding himself that, but he couldn't help but feel a pit of guilt form in his stomach, twisting it furiously. It was because of Anya that he felt this way, it was _his _fault that this was happening, _he _was the one with feelings for another despite his proclaimed devotion to Victoire.

He suspected he would have to tell her the truth of why he was going to end their relationship, but feared her response, well-aware that even though she appeared outgoing and carefree, the wrath of a Veela was not one to be taken lightly. If Anya was not such a capable witch, he would've feared for her safety at Victoire's hands should she take the true form of an enraged veela. He had never seen the transformation before, only being told that the young beautiful features of a Veela would mould into a vicious creature akin to a Harpie, their faces becoming that of a cruel-beaked bird whilst scaled wings burst from their shoulders, spheres of flames erupting from their hands. They were a deadly creature, although he hoped that due to Victoire's mixed blood of both human and Veela, she could not take such a form, or at least hers would not be so lethal.

Teddy sighed to himself, pushing the thoughts into the back of his mind as he reached the door to his room, having retired after another visit to Hogwarts. He had intended to break the news to Victoire that evening, but as soon as he saw her bubbling over with laughter with her friends, he shrunk away out of sight, not wishing to disrupt her joy. He would wait until she was alone tomorrow, then he would do what he had to. He only hoped Anya would not hold his relationship with Victoire against him, hoping the girl he was coming to care for would not despise him for hurting both her and Victoire so unnecessarily by dragging out the relationship.

He slipped into his room, gently shutting the door behind him and flicking on the light before jumping back in fright, his heart thumping violently against his chest. His godfather stood before him, matching his height with his ebony locks combed neatly out of his face, exposing the now ordinary scar splattered down his forehead. His slender figure was dressed in an impeccable suit, however the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his tie hung loosely about his neck, the buttons of his collar undone to give him a more casual appearance. His startling emerald eyes sat behind his usual round-rimmed glasses, peering at Teddy curiously as he slowly recovered from his shock.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Teddy asked, his eyes a questioning crystal blue.

"I've just come for a visit," He exclaimed with a grin, sitting himself down on Teddy's bed with a smile on his lips. "I wanted to see how my godson is doing."

"I've been doing alright, what about you? Is Lily enjoying having the house all to herself now that both her brothers are here?" He joked with a chuckle that Harry shared.

"Things have been a bit hectic at the office, but otherwise I'm great. And Lily is _definitely _loving having all the space to herself, her and Hugo spend almost every day together," Harry replied happily, folding his hands onto his laps before his tone became serious. "I am also here to see how your investigation in progressing, Teddy, I haven't received an owl from you since you first got here."

"The investigation has been going fine." He lied, his gaze averting from Harry's curious expression.

Truth be told, the investigation had completely slipped Teddy's mind over the last few weeks, pushed the corner of the his psyche to gather dust as he busied himself conversing away with Anya, fretting over breaking the news to Victoire. He had not looked any further into any of the reports nor Anya's frightened behaviour regarding her and her mother's safety, nor his previous suspicions that she may have known more than she was letting on. He was starting to realise why aurors never seemed to have many relationships, at least not successful ones, they were bloody complicated. He was only an auror in training and already girls were distracting him from his work.

"Actually," He piped with a sigh, bowing his head in shame as he knew it was futile to lie to his godfather any longer. "The investigation hasn't progressed much since my last owl."

"Really?" Harry arched his eyebrows, pursing his lips together into a straight line. "Well, that _is _disappointing. Perhaps I shouldn't have allowed you to come to Hogwarts, if it is distracting you from your work. Have you not progressed _at all_?"

Harry's lips pulled into a frown of dissatisfaction as Teddy reluctantly shook his head, unable to meet his godfather's disappointed gaze.

"What about the lead on the Crafting girl? Have you chased _that _up?" Harry stood, folding his hands behind his back and bringing his features to level with Teddy's. "Maybe you weren't ready for this. Maybe I should pull you from the investigation and maybe I will, unless you pull your head in and get back to work immediately."

"I will, just being back here, everything sort of got me off track," Teddy admitted, his shoulders slumping forward with a look embarrassment spreading across his fair features. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Teddy, all of us have given into distractions once in our careers, I guess it's best you did it in your training," Harry sympathised with a small smile, clapping a hand around one of Teddy's shoulders before his tone dropped to a serious one once again. "But please don't let it happen again. If you cannot complete this investigation or even progress further into it, I'll have to pull you from your training and perhaps give you another mentor who won't allow you to be distracted."

"But what if I don't know where to go from here in the investigation?"

"Well, why did you come here in the first place? To learn more about the wizarding family from where the reports originated through that girl," He explained. "Why don't you do just that then? Look into her family background, her relation to the village, and so on."

With a soft farewell, Harry swept out of the room, leaving Teddy to flop back onto his bed, burying his face in his hands with a sigh of distress. He had not meant to shirk his responsibilities and he had not even considered the repercussions a little distraction could have for both himself and his godfather. He groaned, rolling onto his side as he mulled over Harry's advice, maybe he should begin with investigating Anya. Now that they were on good terms, she might be more willing to speak to him about the events, or at least he hoped she would.

As his hands fell from his face, his eyes narrowed at an object dropped down the side of his bed curiously, inspecting it before smirking in triumph. He quickly snatched up his bag from the ground, recalling chucking it down there in a burst of frustration after the run-in between Victoire and Anya after their first Advanced Potions class of the year. He tore back the lid of his bag, tugging out the tome Slughorn had lent him before tossing the rucksack aside, sitting up in his bed to focus on the book. Slughorn had said it contained notes on all students at Hogwarts at any given time, this one in particular regarding those in the school when Anya's mother was in her seventh year, from this he could learn any extra information about both of her parents.

He skimmed his fingers over the cover before delicately peeling it open, moving each slab of parchment with caution as if it were to shatter under his touch. Once he reached the section allocated towards seventh years, he glanced over the information regarding the former Slytherin Jeanne Crafting before frowning in disappointment. Nothing there strayed from what Slughorn had told him, she was a notably brilliant and driven student, although relatively solitary, she excelled in her classes.

He reluctantly flicked towards the section marked _Hufflepuff_, the house Anya said her father Virgil Romulus had been sorted into. He hated the idea of digging up information on her late father, knowing the agony of losing a parent all too well himself, having lost both in the first year of his life. He sifted through the list of seventh year students in the house his own mother was once in before his frown lengthened. The name Virgil Romulus was absent from the list, not even mentioned once in any notes.

He assured himself it had to be a mistake, quickly flicking through every page of the tome, but no such name appeared in any year or any house, not even a single note regarding the man Anya claimed to be her father was present. But she had assured Teddy of her father's age matching her mother's, in fact, he was a few months younger, the pair having met in their seventh year at Hogwarts, falling in love instantly and then having her a few years later. As he pressed the book shut, his discovery dawned on him, Virgil Romulus wasn't real.

Only one question remained: Did Anya know that?


	13. The Truth

Ah Teddy, he needs a pat on the shoulder for what he's about to do. Poor guy.

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

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><p><strong>13. <strong>_The Truth_

Teddy darted out of his room, his bag slung over his shoulder with the tome hidden within, bouncing about as he rushed down the stairs. He didn't have time to tell Gunner where he was going, all he knew was that he had to tell Anya what he had found and, more importantly, find out if she knew already. Before sweeping out of the Three Broomsticks Inn, he glanced at the clock for a brief second. The seventh years would be lounging about with free-time, dinner was over and curfew would not be for at least another hour, he had plenty of time to get a hold of Anya and knew just where to find her.

He bolted through Hogsmeade, ignoring the curious stares of onlookers as he weaved through the shadows, moving towards Hogwarts as fast as his long legs could carry him. He ignored the exhaustion the threatened to collapse his legs under him as he burst through the gargantuan doors into the winding maze of corridors within Hogwarts. He throttled passed students, narrowly avoiding collisions with first years that would have toppled over under his towering figure as he manoeuvred through the passageways. He skidded to a stop before a pair of wooden doors on the third floor, his knees buckling as he bent over, catching his breath, his chest heaving as his heart pounded vigorously against his chest.

After regaining his composure, he ran his fingers through his feathery locks and pressed the doors to the Hogwarts library open, slipping inside silently. He made his way through the thousands of bookshelves housing hundreds of thousands of tomes on just about any subject known to man, searching for a familiar head of silky ebony locks bent over a book at the various tables dotted about the room. He glanced over his shoulder at the skeletal figure of the elderly Madame Pince as she watched him move, her beady eyes narrowed into a warning glare, sitting on either side of her unflatteringly large hooked-nose. Her visage was sunken and shrivelled, every single crevice of parchment-like skin pinched into a wrinkle, she was most definitely _not_ an attractive woman.

He shuddered as he looked away from her to find a pair of sky blue orbs glancing up at him curiously from a table tucked into the corner of the room. She tucked her pin-point straight locks behind her ear, exposing the piercing littered along the crevices to him, her inquisitive large eyes framed by her side-swept bangs. Teddy felt paralysed as he glanced over her porcelain beauty, her plump scarlet lips, the beauty mark dotted below her left eye. He cleared his throat, regaining control of his body and forcing a smile as he quickly made his way towards where Anya sat, knowing what he had to tell her could not wait, not even a single moment. He stood the seat opposite her, his false smile still on his lips as he folded his fingers together, resting his hands on the tabletop.

"I need to talk to you, A.J." He stated as she shrugged, closing the gargantuan book sitting on the table before her.

"Then talk, I'm listening." She replied propping her elbow up onto the tabletop, resting her jaw on her fist with her eyebrows arched curiously.

"Well, it's more like I have something I have to tell you," He admitted, his voice dropping to a soft tone. "And it might be a shock, but I'm not telling you it to hurt you, I wouldn't do that, it's just–"

"I know," She interrupted his rambling with a small smile on her lips. "I trust you, I feel safe around you."

A pit formed in his stomach at her melodic voice, wanting nothing more than to pull her into an embrace and whisper sweet nothings to her. He certainly did not want to ruin such a moment with the dark secret he was harbouring, but he forced himself to push on, knowing the longer he kept it secret, the worse Anya would feel if she didn't already know.

"I trust you too," He murmured before cautiously proceeding. "But I need to ask you, is there anything else you need to tell me about your father?"

"My father?" She blurted in confusion before snapping back with slight irritation, clearly no pleased at him bringing up such a painful topic. "No. He can_not _be involved in the investigation anyway, in case you've forgotten."

Teddy sighed. Either she really had no idea of what he had discovered or she was skilfully covering her knowledge up, although he highly doubted the latter. He said he trusted her and he meant it, so he trusted her to tell him the truth provided she know it.

"Look, I know what it's like to lose a parent or even both, and to have one that isn't exactly _normal_. My mother's metamorphmagus ability may have been easily accepted, but my father was a werewolf," He soothed gently, watching as her eyes widened in disbelief. "He was, and still is, known as Remus Lupin."

"Really?" She gawked, clearly recognising the name as many others did, although not quite believing Teddy was his son, especially with all of the rumours circulating that the son of the famed werewolf would inherit his lycanthropic abilities.

"Yes, and I'm not ashamed of what he was, but he certainly didn't do things to be proud of, he even abandoned my mother whilst pregnant," Teddy explained, reaching his hand across the table to cup Anya's comfortingly. "I just want you to know that I understand and I'll help you through this as everyone has done for me about my own parents."

"What are you talking about? Help me through _what_? What's going on?" Anya asked in utter puzzlement.

"I'm talking about this," He retrieved the book from his back with his freehand, gently lowering it onto the table between them, his gaze shifting from her perplexed expression to the tome that harboured the truth he had discovered. "Professor Slughorn gave me this a few weeks ago. Each teacher has to write notes about their students for each year, then all notes are compiled together to create one of these. This one in particular is from your mother's seventh year at Hogwarts,"

"Look through it until you reach the page for seventh years in the Hufflepuff house," He urged her, pushing the book towards her gently as she reluctantly complied. "I promise everything will make sense in a minute."

"What now?" She enquired having flicked the book open to the desired page.

Teddy gulped, squeezing her hand supportively before gesturing towards the parchment.

"Look at the list of students in the year," He instructed, watching as her gaze dropped to the page, inspecting each line as he spoke. "You told me your mother and father were in the same year at Hogwarts, having met in their final one and that he was sorted into the Hufflepuff house."

"Yes, what's your point?" She muttered, still scanning over the page.

"I've looked through that book from cover to cover and not once has the name Virgil Romulus ever been mentioned." He spoke slowly and softly as she reached the end of the page, her eyebrows shooting up as she stared at the parchment, wide-eyed.

"Then it's a mistake," She snapped, withdrawing her hand from Teddy's forcefully. "Of course it's a mistake."

"Haven't you ever wondered why people talk to you so much about your mother and her time here, but never your father? Why no one has a single word to say about him, not anyone?" Teddy asked gently as she quickly shook her head in denial.

"No. They don't talk about him because he passed away, why else wouldn't they? What the hell are you trying to say?" She hissed venomously, careful not to raise her voice and alert Madam Pince to their argument.

"I'm trying to say that Virgil Romulus doesn't exist," He soothed. "I'm sorry, but it's true. You even said so yourself, you can't even remember him."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't exist! He was my father! Of course he bloody exists!"

"I wouldn't say this to you unless I was absolutely sure. Ask any professor if you really don't trust me, but I swear it's true, Virgil Romulus never attended Hogwarts, never met your mother, never existed." Teddy repeated before becoming startled as she slammed her fists down on the table, her crystal eyes narrowed into slits.

"Stop saying that!" She shouted, not bothering to maintain her calm as she throttled to her feet, glaring murderously down at Teddy.

She bared her teeth, a deep animalistic growl erupting from her throat before she clapped a hand over her mouth, silencing it. Her eyes widened, brimming with tears as she quickly snatched up her satchel.

"I have to go." Her words seeped through her fingers as she rounded the table, scurrying out of the room and as Teddy watched her leave, he couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing.

* * *

><p>Teddy walked through the corridors of Hogwarts, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his slacks, his head bowed as his raven tangles shadowed his now ashen-coloured eyes which held a solemn gaze. He hadn't chased after Anya, although his heart begged him to, knowing very well that she would rather be alone then around the boy who had revealed such an agonising secret. He felt ashamed of himself for hurting her so, but he knew he had to do it; she had to know the truth. As he rounded the corner, he collided with the familiar willowy figure of Victoire Weasley, her waist-length strawberry blonde locks bouncing about in the air as she stumbled backwards. Her deep sapphire eyes widened as they met Teddy's fair features, a smile dancing about her lips.<p>

"I feared you might be a prefect," She beamed with a sigh of relief, Teddy well-aware that she would soon have to return to her dorm for curfew. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to go to the library and talk to someone." He muttered with a frown, his heart sinking in his chest as he recalled Anya's torn expression at what he had said.

"What kind of person spends their free time in a library?" She scoffed before leaning into his figure, draping her arms around his neck. "But it's great that you're here, I've missed you."

"Look, Victoire, I'm really not in the mood right now," He snapped, peeling her arms off of him with a shake of his head. "I really just want to go back to the Three Broomsticks."

"Then take me with you." She murmured seductively, batting her eyelashes up at him as she ran her fingers down his chest.

"I just want to go back to the Three Broomsticks _alone_." He corrected himself, but before he could walk passed her, she stepped in his way, her jovial expression dropping.

"I've let you play detective for weeks now without seeing you," She stated, folding her arms over her chest with a pout. "Now it's time for you to make up for that."

"I haven't been playing detective, I've been doing my work."

"What about doing me?" She giggled playfully before noticing him rolling his eyes. "What? I was just kidding. Why are you upset with me?"

"I'm not upset with you," He sighed in defeat, slumping his shoulders forward. "I've just got a lot of stuff going on right now."

"Then tell me about it," She suggested encouragingly. "I just want to know the truth of what's going on. I might even be able to help."

He glanced at her, shaking his head. There was no way she could help, but she was right, it was time to tell the truth. He had owed Anya the truth about her father and he owed Victoire the truth about him, about why he had been acting so distant lately. He took a step away from her before reluctantly speaking.

"I owe you the truth of what's going on, Victoire," He began gently. "And I'm really sorry for what it is, but I just don't feel the same way I did a month or two ago. I just don't feel that way about _us _anymore."

"What?" She blurted in disbelief, clearly not used to men not fawning over her or them breaking up with her. "We've just been apart lately; you'll be back to normal when we spend more time together."

"That's just it; I've been happy and content even though we've been apart. That shouldn't be happening," He explained, trying to ignore her horrified expression. "It's not a case of me being back to normal, things have just changed. I have changed and I know that's not your fault, but we just can't stay in this relationship."

"But what we have is special–"

"What we had was, but we don't have anything anymore," He corrected. "You are a special girl, Victoire, and I do care for you, but not in the way you want me to. And I can't keep this up any longer, I had to tell you the truth and do what I've been dreading."

"What exactly is that? What are you saying?" She asked biting down on her bottom lip as her eyes welled with tears.

"I'm saying that it's time we broke up, Victoire."


	14. Far Too Much Running

Starting to wonder how many chapters are left of this, or even if it'll go to 20 chapters. O.o I have a fear that it won't. Damn. ._. I wanted this chapter to be longer, but oh well. :/ It probably would've been a filler if I made it any longer. Hopefully the next will be really long though to make up for this.

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

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><p><strong>14. <strong>_Far Too Much Running_

Victoire had taken the breakup better then Teddy had anticipated, but she had definitely not taken it well. Instead of lashing out at him viciously as he had expected she would do, even mentally preparing himself for a slap around the face, tears streamed down her milky white features as she turned on her heel and fled back to her dorm, her sobs echoing down the catacombs of Hogwarts. He partly wished she had done what he had expected, preferring that to the guilt of her weeping before him, the sound of her wails still bounding about his mind.

He shook her from his thoughts as he stepped out of the castle, the chilled evening breeze rushing over him as the sun was soon to set on the horizon, late evening fast approaching earlier than usual in the early winter months. He tugged the sleeves of his darkly-coloured, button-down shirt over his wrists before rubbing his hands against the sides of his body to try and keep himself warm. Grabbing a jacket hadn't crossed his mind when he rushed out to find Anya, far too distracted with his determination to tell her the truth, not to mention his frantic running kept his figure warm when he had darted through Hogsmeade.

As he slowly walked down the dirt path leading away from the castle, he reminded himself that he had to find Anya the next day. Not only did he want to check on her after she had cooled down from her anger, but he also wanted to admit one final truth to her, the truth of how he felt towards her, not to mention the truth of what had happened to his relationship with Victoire. He still had to tell Gunner what was going on, but he had a feeling that his friend already knew, particularly as he had not hit on Anya since the Slug Club dinner nor made a single perverse comment towards her, at least not when Teddy was around.

Teddy suddenly felt himself freeze on the spot, his muscles tensing as he halted his movements, his eyes wide as he stared at the figure crouched about the field framing the castle. The creature's canine body was littered in ebony fur, a tufted tail jetting out its rear whilst pointed fur-covered ears were perked up on either side of its head. Teddy's hair became ivory with fear as the creature raised its snout in the air, tearing its mouth open to reveal pearly rows of canines before growling and snapping its head towards were Teddy stood. His breath caught in his throat as he stared into the piercing eyes of the snarling creature, his heart beating violently against his chest as if threatening to stop at any minute. His heart nearly skipped a beat as the creature whipped round, turning its back to the wizard before darting away from Teddy who suddenly found himself chasing after the creature, his legs moving without his control.

A surge of adrenaline rushed over him, his chest rising and falling rapidly, keeping in time with his accelerated heartbeat as he scrambled after the creature. He had no wand, he had no protection, but he had to know what it was, he had to know if it was the answer to everything he had been searching for, he had to know if it meant the end of his investigation. The creature glanced over its shoulder before increasing its speed, racing into the Forbidden Forest with Teddy at its heels, his adrenaline washing away his fear over the creature or its possible deadly nature, so long as he kept the school in view, he would safe.

Teddy eventually skidded to a halt, leaves crunching beneath the soles of his shoes as he glanced about the looming trunks of darkened trees about him, a sliver of light barely visible behind him, the Hogwarts castle visible on the horizon. The creature vanished into the shadows, its running feet suddenly falling silent on the graveyard of shed leaves, pausing as if curious to see why its pursuer had halted. He could hear it circling him, inspecting him inquisitively yet never stepping out of the shadows to reveal its form to him once again, the sound of the ground shifting beneath its paws the only thing alerting the wizard to the creature's presence.

It grunted before the sound of it darting off once again brushed over Teddy, releasing him from his trancelike high of adrenaline. He glanced about the darkness, sighing to himself in defeat before reluctantly retreating from the forest, cursing himself for not having brought his wand with him. If he had, he could've stunned the creature, although he couldn't predict such a run-in, especially as he was leaving the inn to see Anya, not to chase after a canine-like creature. He paused as he returned to the path, glancing back at Hogwarts with wide eyes. If that was the creature from–or one related to–the reports at the muggle village, it could be dangerous. Everyone could be in danger, dwellers of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts staff, students, even Anya and there was no way he was letting that happen. He had to tell Headmistress Quackenbush what he had seen and he had to tell her fast before anyone could be put in danger.

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><p>Teddy scrambled up to the headmistress' office, his legs exhausted as his knees buckled, his figure resting against the wall momentarily as he gathered his breath. He mentally reminded himself that after today, he never wanted to run again, he had done far too much of it and was not enjoying it at all. As he leaned into the wall, pressing his heated features against the cold stone, his fingers reaching for the door handle, the familiar voice of Anya Crafting stopped his movements.<p>

"Headmistress, I need to leave tonight," Anya protested. "Please, it's urgent."

Teddy scolded himself, mentally warning himself to get away from the door, but his body wouldn't budge, instead he pressed his ear against the wooden door, listening intently. Despite his mental protests at how wrong it was to listen in, it seemed that eavesdropping was becoming a habit of his.

"I cannot let you go until you tell me what is going on." The headmistress replied gently as Anya sighed in defeat.

"I just really need to speak to my mother," She asserted, but Teddy could hear the pleading in her voice. "Please, I wouldn't ask on such short notice and so late if it wasn't important. I've discovered something and I just really need to sort this out as soon as possible. Please."

"But what about your safety? And your mother's? We cannot just have you running off when it's about to get dark with all that has been going on."

"I'll use the Floo Network; it will be fast and quick. That way, if worst comes to worst and I really need help, you can follow me and be there as soon as possible," Anya suggested, her voice now quivering as she begged further. "Please, Headmistress, I _need _to speak to my mother and learn the truth of what's going on. I will be safe and I will explain everything when I return, when I know the truth about everything myself."

"Okay, I will allow you to go," She surrendered as Anya let out a sigh of relief. "Hurry back to your dormitory and make sure you have anything you need. Return to Hogwarts as soon as you can and please be safe."

"I will, Headmistress, thank you so much."

Teddy leapt back from the door as it peeled open, Anya bidding Headmistress Quackenbush a grateful farewell before coming face-to-face with the metamorphmagus, her sky blue eyes wide with confusion.

"Where are you going?" Teddy blurted before she could narrow her eyes into a murderous glare and storm off.

"I thought you might've learnt by now that eavesdropping is rude," She hissed, folding her arms over her developed chest with an impatient frown. "Now get out of my way, I need to go."

"Go where?" He prodded, refusing to move out of her way until she answered his questions.

"I need to speak to my mother," She admitted in defeat. "I need to find out if what you told me was true, and if it was, why she lied to me and who my father is."

"You're leaving Hogwarts?"

"Yes, how else do you expect me to deal with this mess you've made for me?" She snapped furiously.

"I was trying to help. Are you saying you didn't want me to tell you the truth?" He challenged in irritation that quickly flooded away as she sighed, shaking her head.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just upset, it's kind of a lot to process," She said softly. "Now can you please let me go? We'll talk when I get back, I promise."

"But it's dangerous out there. You could get hurt." He exclaimed as she tried to move passed him, refusing to let her roam around with a creature on the loose.

"What?" She arched her eyebrows, her eyes wide in confusion as a flash of fear flicked through them. "No, it's not. I'll be fine."

"At least let me come with you," He suggested, even without a wand, he could at least serve as a distraction to anything that wished to harm the young witch. "You said you feel safe around me, so let me come with you. Let me protect you."

"I don't need protecting, I'll be fine." She repeated with an aggravated roll of her eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that, I just want to help," Teddy murmured, glancing over her porcelain features before gulping nervously. "I really care about you A.J. and I just want to make sure you're okay, especially with all these reports of suspicious activity going around."

"You do?" She smiled gently as he nodded. "I care about you too, but–"

"I broke up with Victoire," He blurted, the words coming out of his mouth before he could even stop them. "I just wanted you to know. I should've done it earlier; I guess I was just nervous."

"Oh how masculine," She mumbled sarcastically before grinning up at him and slipping her dainty hand into his large one, lacing her fingers through his. "I promise I'll be okay, but thank you for caring. I'll come find you as soon as I get back and we can sort this out."

"But what if–"

"If I need you, I'll find you as soon as possible, okay?" She interrupted. "I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."

With that, she lifted herself onto the tips of her toes and briefly pressed her lips to his, her brief sweet kiss electrifying him with excitement, flooding his veins with warmth as his heart thumped vigorously against his chest. He felt alive, more alive than he did in his many sessions of passionately making out with Victoire, his head nearly spinning into vertigo at the intoxicating feel of her soft lips and subtle flesh. Even when she parted from him, her touch lingered on his lips, tickling his nerves softly as his hair and eyes became a bashful fuchsia pink. She chuckled softly, bidding him farewell before scurrying down the hallway, leaving him to recover from his trance over her captivating kiss.

"Mister Lupin, are you here to see me?" Headmistress Quackenbush's voice interrupted his euphoria, suddenly making him aware that he was simply lingering in the hallway, Anya having left already.

He glanced from the elderly headmistress to the hallway Anya had darted down, part of him wanting to retreat into the headmistress' office and tell her of what he saw whilst the other part wanted to chase after Anya, to follow her to her home, to ensure her safety. He had to choose between his investigation and Anya for the time being, one had to be the priority. With a gulp, he shook his head at Headmistress Quackenbush and hurried down the hallway, he couldn't let Anya face this alone as the safety of those he cared about had to always come first.


	15. Her Secret

Many things will be explained in this chapter. (: So it may be longer than most other chapters, but it seemed silly to split it up or else the next chapter would just be explanations of things and this would stop just before the explanations. XD But this isn't the end. About two or more chapters to go it looks like. ^^

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>15. <strong>_Her Secret_

Teddy hurried down the dirt path leading towards the decaying Crafting cottage, water droplets pounding down from above, ashen clouds smothering the sky, shadowing the sun as it danced along the horizon, highlighting the clouds that framed it in tones of persimmon and rose. Soon the moon would be up completely, it would be the only sliver of light in the darkness of night, leaving both Teddy and Anya vulnerable. He could not have arrived too far behind Anya, having raced back to the Three Broomsticks Inn to grab his wand before apparating away. Although her village was quite a distance to cover, he knew the grounds about both it _and _Hogwarts impeccably well and could easily apparate from place to place without even a second thought.

He slipped through the rusting gate, his ebony mop of hair clinging to his fair features damply, rain trickling through them onto his neck. He drew his wand, glancing about cautiously as if waiting for the creature to reappear before pointing his wand towards the lock of the door.

"_Alohomora_." He hissed lowering his wand as the lock clicked open.

With one last guarded glance about the unkempt vegetation framing the crumbling cottage, Teddy snuck inside, closing the door softly behind him without making a single sound before whispering _colloportus_, the spell sealing the door shut, preventing it from being unlocked by conventional means. At least now he was safe indoors, no one would get in unless they were a wizard or witch, and thus, Anya was safe too, all he had to do was find her. He crept slowly through the hallway, manoeuvring carefully over the creaking, splintered floorboards, making sure he did not make a sound. He held his wand firmly in his hand, the end lit up by the _lumos_ charm as he inspected the rooms. He brushed passed the scuffed up, crowded living room in which Anya's questioning had taken place with a small bathroom sitting opposite with only enough room to house a toilet, basin, and slender shower.

Two other rooms sat on the bottom floor, one forming a bedroom with a single bed and a chest of drawers that was almost falling apart. He guessed this would have to be Anya's bedroom as several textbooks required in early Hogwarts years were littered across the floor. The final room formed a kitchen, the floor coated in dingy discoloured tiles that matched the grey, chipped wooden counters, the doors of each coming off their hinges to reveal the various ingredients housed within, some for meals, others for potion brewing. A cauldron sat in the far corner of the room, propped up on the miniscule dining table upon a small stand that would be lit when needed. A stench clung to the room, the stench of brewing and bubbling ingredients, leading Teddy to believe that someone had recently been using the cauldron, either that or no fresh air had swept in since it was last used.

He shook his head, frowning in disappointment whilst fear twisted at his gut; Anya wasn't in any of the rooms he had looked in. Could she still be outside in the darkness? He gulped down the lump that was forming in this throat, nervously paralysing his vocal cords. If she was outside, she could be in danger, especially if there was a creature out there. Before he could turn and scramble out of the house to search the shadows surrounding it for Anya, something caught his eye amongst the darkness at the end of the hallway, glinting warningly as if begging him not to leave. He arched his eyebrows, crawling towards it slowly; his wand held high to illuminate his surroundings, the figure twinkling as the light approached. He sighed in relief, lowering his wand as he felt his shoulders slump, fear flooding out of him as he stared at a pair of metal stairs descending from the attic, rather than the fiendish creature he was expecting.

He glanced up the stairs, only able to see a small portion of the low-ceiling loft before he began climbing up the unsteady ladder, bracing himself in case it collapsed beneath him. He quickly climbed to the top, settling on the landing and glancing about. The room he has in was small, each wall perhaps a metre or two in length with a slender table on the far one with various vials upon it along with potions tomes. Facing the altar table was a half-open door, the wooden slab standing ajar out of its frame, splattered in scrapes. Teddy scurried towards it, crouching down as he glanced into the slightly larger room, immediately spotting two figures.

One lay in the iron-framed bed, the mattress stripped of any sheets as the frail, skeletal figure lay limply on it, her wrists and ankles pinned down by thick restraints. Her sickly pallid face was sunken, her cheeks hollow, her thin lips cracked whilst dark bags of exhaustion clung to her shimmering dark chocolate eyes that were rimmed with tears. Her figure was draped in an off-white night gown, her unruly ebony locks sprawled out across the bed beneath her. Despite her unhealthy, poorly aged appearance, Teddy could see a faint resemblance between the woman and Anya, identifying her as the bedridden Jeanne Crafting, Anya's mother. The second figure was curvaceous and short, easily allowing him to identify it as Anya herself even though her back was facing him, her fingers curled into fists around the end of the bed, her straight black tangles falling about her mid-back. Although he felt relief wash over him now that he knew Anya was safe in the house with him, the tension in the room made anxiety flutter about his gut as he watched the scene.

"Tell me the truth," Anya snapped furiously. "Tell me what the hell is going on right now, Mother."

Jeanne pursed her lips together, tilting her head to the side, refusing to look her daughter in the eye as she kept silent. Anya groaned in frustration, tearing her fists free of the end of the bed as she pointed at her mother accusingly.

"That man you told me was my father is _not_ real, Virgil Romulus is_ not_ real," She snarled. "You can_not _hide anything any longer, so tell me the fucking truth!"

This time her mother shook her head, not willing to comply in the slightest with her daughter's demands as she bit back a sob.

"Why can't you tell me the truth? How could you keep who my father is from me? What reason could you have for that? Is he still alive?" He could hear Anya's voice cracking, fearing she may have been crying as she sniffed. "My father could be alive and you lied to me about that? How could you do this to me? I'm your daughter; you have no reason to have kept him from me! So be a fucking good mother and tell me the truth for once or I'll take it by force!"

"Fine, have it your way then. You know I am trained well enough to break through your barriers," Anya hissed as her mother remained unresponsive, refusing to admit the truth to her daughter in the slightest. She pointed her wand at her mother. "_Legilimens_!"

Her mother shrieked in protest, writhing about in the bed, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to prevent her daughter from diving into her mind, from discovering the truth she had hidden so well over the years. Soon her wriggling stopped as Anya withdrew from her mind, her mother softly sobbing to herself, far too ashamed to even glance at her daughter.

"H-h-h-him?" She gawked in horror, sobs seeping through her words. "How... How could you? You made me what I am on purpose! _You_ did _this _to me on purpose!"

She lifted up the hem of her top, Teddy able to see a sliver of silver slashes across her back, some moving around her side to scar her abdomen.

"Look at me, look at what _you _did to me," Anya hissed, letting go of her top and curling her hands into tight fists. "You and that disgusting mancursed me with this for my entire life, even as a baby I had to go through this. You both make me sick, how could you do this to your own daughter?"

Jeanne winced, flopping onto her side, her frail hand gesturing towards the window where a round full moon was about to rise into the darkened sky.

"It's too late." She croaked, collapsing back on her bed, a deep growl erupting from her throat, cutting off her words.

Anya collapsed forward, grasping hold of the end of the bed to keep herself upright as her body jerked, letting out a snarling noise as her figure twisted into an unfamiliar form. Tuffs of ebony fur sprouted from each woman's flesh, their head lengthening as their bodies did the same, their shoulders hunching forwards, their hands and feature curling into clawed paws. Snouts extended from their fur-covered faces, their mouths decorated in rows of sharp canines whilst tufted tails swept out of their tailbones. Anya's new form landed on all fours, growling warningly at her mother who struggled to tear out of her restraints. The creature resembling a large wolf that now stood in Anya's place was larger than that of her mother, its fur thicker, its claws longer, its senses sharper, Teddy unable to grasp that that creature before him was his Anya-Jeanne Crafting.

A gasp escaped Teddy's lips at the realisation before he could quickly smother it with his hands, but it was too late, Anya's pointed ears twitched, her canine head whipping towards the door, her sky blue eyes peering at Teddy as if frightened. Teddy scrambled backwards as her wolf figure moved towards the door, grasping hold of his wand as he prepared to stun Anya. Suddenly, his legs fumbled over the ladder leading out of the attic, his figure tumbling backwards as his head collided with something, a searing pain erupting through it as everything went pitch black.

* * *

><p>Teddy groaned, his head stinging painfully as he slowly regained consciousness, his eyes fluttering open to reveal a blurred collage of dull colours. He blinked vigorously, the scene slowly falling into focus as he found himself staring up at a cracked off-white ceiling, an ashen light hanging from it to illuminate the room. He struggled to remember what had happened before his fall, barely able to collect his thoughts through the agony that erupted from the back of his head.<p>

"You're up," A familiar tender voice exclaimed, the beholder crouching over him to reveal her porcelain features. "Are you okay?"

Her full, scarlet-coloured lips were pulled into a worried frown as she inspected his features, her soft hands cupping his face as she glanced into his eyes, searching for a response to ensure he was conscious. As he stared into those captivating sky blue eyes, everything flooded back to him, the truth of what Anya and her mother were, what he saw last night, everything. He jolted back from her, forcing his torso up right as he scrambled onto the far end of the bed, staring at her with wide eyes of disbelief.

"You... You are... You are a..." He couldn't utter the word, far too fearful of actually admitting it to be truth.

"Yes, I'm a werewolf." She sighed, perching herself on the end of his bed with a look of shame on her fair visage.

"B-b-b-but, how?" He blurted in utter confusion, his mind racing with so many questions. "Did your mother bite–"

"No," She muttered, hanging her head now as she twisted her fingers over one another, her voice wavering as she spoke. "I was born like this; I was born as one of the _things_."

"What?" He gawked in disbelief, staring at her with eyes the size of dinner plates.

There had never been a documented case of someone being _born _a werewolf; it was always infection by salivary contact, in other words a bite. If bitten by a werewolf in their wolf form, you would become one yourself, but if bitten by one in their human form, you would be lucky to escape with only werewolf traits and tendencies, such as a desire for rare meat. But never had anyone ever found one with the curse from birth, werewolves were rarely ever able to procreate as they were persecuted by both muggles and the wizarding community, not to mention if they procreated in a human form, the child would most likely be born a human without the trait, but in their wolf forms, werewolves were often far too violent to even recognise one another without tearing the other's head off.

Teddy's head spun into vertigo, swirling with puzzlement as he felt as if he were about to pass out again, the throbbing pain in his head increasing. An incantation passed through Anya's lips, brushing over Teddy as the pain in the back of his head suddenly ceased. He glanced up as she smiled weakly at him, her wand held tightly in her hand.

"I've studied Medical Magic quite a bit, particularly healing spells," She admitted gently, placing a hand over her flat abdomen. "They come in handy when you wake up covered in gashes, stops most of them from scarring."

"Is that where the scars on your back came from?" She nodded reluctantly.

"I did them to myself when I was young, perhaps a toddler, and I hadn't quite gotten the hang of my monthly transformations. My mother had abandoned all of her magic abilities long ago so she couldn't heal me and I was far too young to be able to do anything myself apart from clean the gashes and hope they didn't get infected. I've tried to get rid of them now, but they're too old, they grew up with me and won't be going anywhere anytime soon it seems." Teddy felt pity rush through him at her words before he sighed to himself, forcing a supportive smile across his lips as he struggled to stop himself from bursting out into frantic questions.

"If I promise not to freak out," He began. "Will you explain everything? Explain what exactly you are, or rather, how you are what you are?"

"Okay. But most of what I know, I've only just learnt myself and can barely wrap my own head around it," She stated, drawing her knees to her body and wrapping her arms around them, cradling herself softly. "You were right, Virgil Romulus never existed and if he did, he certainly wasn't my father. My mother met a man–or rather a beast–in her summer after her seventh year at Hogwarts, a beast whose name I _know _you will recognise for what he did to your father, a beast named Fenrir Greyback. He wanted to recruit her to his cause underneath Lord Voldemort, to make her a werewolf and recruit her for his cause to attack and murder muggles and muggleborns alike,"

"And she... She happily accepted, allowing him to bite her at a full moon and make her one of them, she wanted to see the world from a new angle and was so naive to be easily charmed by his words. Nearly a year later, Greyback came to her seven days before the full moon, handing my mother a Wolfsbane potion and instructing her to take it, assuring her he would do the same," She paused, gulping as her eyes pooled with tears at what she was about to say.

"And then he came back at the full moon, both retaining their human minds and told her what he wanted, he wanted to her to get pregnant in her wolf form, to create a werewolf from birth. With Harry Potter on the run, soon to bring down the Dark Lord many speculated, he had to continue his work sooner than he had expected. My mother refused, but he clearly wasn't looking for consent so he overpowered her when the full moon was up and he..." Her voice trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence as Teddy easily figured out how the story ended, her mother said no, so Greyback did what he needed by force.

Teddy shuddered at the thought, feeling sick to his stomach. The man that had attacked his father as a child, inflicted him with the curse of lycanthropy, was Anya's father and worst of all, he had forced her to be born with the curse, a mere infant being forced into painful transformations every month.

"If you were born a werewolf... What does that mean in terms of what you are? If Greyback wanted you to be born that was so badly, surely it means you are different from what your mother is." She nodded, confirming his suspicions before clarifying.

"I have a lot more control over what I am. I retain my human mind during my monthly transformations even without Wolfsbane and can control myself very well when in my wolf state," She explained. "But as I get older, things are getting more complicated. I am still forced into a transformation at the full moon, but now I can transform willingly without the moon. When I get very emotional or upset, especially when the full moon is close, I can start to transform because this ability is so new."

"Is that why you were outside the Hogwarts grounds earlier on? Even though the moon was not up?" Teddy asked, remembering the creature he had seen outside Hogwarts that matched Anya perfectly.

"Yes, I was upset about what you said and felt it happening. But then you found me and after I had managed to lose you, I had to go to the headmistress. I had to sort this out with my mother to stop myself from doing that again because when I felt myself get so upset, so angry, I struggled to control myself. I was scared I would transform right there in the library," She glanced up at Teddy, her voice becoming gentle and genuine. "Except part of me knew I wouldn't, around you I feel safe and I feel like I _can _control myself. Even when Victoire would make me so angry, so long as you were there, I wasn't even scared of taking my form."

Teddy reached forward, taking her one of her dainty hand in both of his large ones with a small smile, caressing the soft flesh of her hands with the buds of his thumbs. She sniffled before returning his smile, lacing her fingers through his and squeezing his hand tenderly.

"I'm sorry about this," Anya squeaked. "I should've known something like this would happen when I had started roaming about at night. I was trying to get in control of myself over the summer, but I hadn't been careful enough."

"So it was you, you're the answer to the investigation," She nodded, Teddy still holding her hand supportively as he continued. "I had better tell Gunner and my godfather immediately."

"What? No, you can't!" She cried quickly. "Please don't. I don't want my mother or me on that degrading registration list for werewolves; I don't want us to be discriminated against wherever we go. And what if they want to investigate me more? Please. I'm not dangerous, you know that."

"But I have to tell him what's going on, he can help you, the whole ministry can," Teddy explained. "You can't go back to Hogwarts if you're struggling to control this new ability without the help of the Ministry. I won't be there all the time, what if you can_not _control yourself for one second? What if someone pushes you over the edge and you can't help yourself?"

"That won't happen, I promise." Anya protested.

"What do you want me to do then? This will come out eventually, you're already under investigation by the aurors. If I don't tell them and explain the full extent of the situation and that you are _not _dangerous, someone else will find out and tell them. And they might not give you a chance to explain," He exclaimed before his tone softened as he noticed her expression fall, her eyes laced with fear. "Look, just let me speak to Gunner and my godfather. He'll tell me where I should go from here and Gunner can help, you can trust both of them. I just need to know what to do."

"Okay," She murmured. "If you trust them, I trust them."

Teddy wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her onto his lap gently, stroking her, stroking her ebony locks with his free hand as he pressed his lips to her forehead. She wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling into his protective figure as he whispered to her gently.

"I promise everything will be okay, I'd never do anything to hurt you."


	16. His Decision

I guess this is the penultimate chapter, the second to last chapter. Wow. I'm shocked. xD And I really don't want to let Teddy go. *Clings to him* I just love him so much. *sobs* Anyway. Well, on we go with chapter 16. Tralalala. I feel bad for the position Teddy is in. :/ Poor guy. I'm not so nice to him. XD I put him in some horrible situations.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

* * *

><p><strong>16. <strong>_His Decision_

Teddy folded his hands over his lap, glancing at the clock pressed against the wall of his room anxiously as his foot bounced about the ground, his leg rhythmically shaking nervously. Gunner arched his eyebrows at him, his amber eyes holding a questioning look as he shook his head of shaggy dirty blonde tangles.

"What's wrong, Teddy?" He enquired, but the metamorphmagus ignored him.

He couldn't explain it, not yet at least, not until his godfather had arrived. Then he would explain everything to the both of them, asking for their advice and guidance on what he should do next regarding Anya's condition as he knew Gunner would consider what was best for Teddy and Harry would consider what was best for the community and Anya herself. Thus somewhere between their suggestions, Teddy would no doubt find a solution to suit everyone best, at least he hoped he would.

He had left Anya at Hogwarts an hour earlier, having apparated back with her in tow. She had stumbled a bit, feeling slightly ill after her first full apparition as she was still studying the method in school, not yet having mastered it. She was nervous, even though she wouldn't admit it, he could tell as he watched her chewing on her bottom lip as she embraced Teddy tightly, whispering a soft farewell to him. He grasped her hands before she could pull away, reassuring her that there was nothing to be worried about, that everything would work out, he promised. He wouldn't dare admit that he too was nervous, his heart thumping violently at the mere thought of what his godfather and best friend would say, but he had to comfort Anya. Although she didn't push it further, instead smiling up at him and thanking him for the reassurance, part of him wondered if she _knew _he was nervous, having learnt that she was very skilled in legilimency or whether she simply chose to believe him, to settle her own anxiety.

He sighed, leaning back against the wall, his athletic figure perched upon his bed with Gunner sitting alongside him, idly glancing about the room, awaiting the final member of the meeting Teddy had called. He had summoned Harry as soon as he had recovered, sending him an owl regarding how urgently he was needed at the Three Broomsticks Inn to speak with Teddy, that it was imperative that he arrived that same day. Gunner was much easier to reach, just spending the day in the pub, flirting away with Madam Rosmerta when Teddy arrived and tugged him aside, asking him to come speak to him in his room. He was curious, bombarding Teddy with questions especially regarding where he had been during the night, considering he wasn't in his room. Teddy had managed to avoid answering his questions, promising to do so once his godfather arrived, especially as he knew if he told Gunner he had spent the night at Anya's, he would receive countless playful perverse comments until Harry arrived and the conversation took a turn to a more serious note.

"When is Harry getting here?" Gunner complained, stretching out his arms before folding them behind his head, resting against the wall Teddy's bed was pressed against.

As if sensing their lack of patience and Gunner's moaning, a rhythmic knock echoed from the doorway. Teddy quickly climbed to his feet, scrambling towards the door before smoothing out his top, regaining his composure and peeling the door open to reveal the tall, slender figure of Harry Potter. He was dressed in a suit, his impeccable ebony blazer done up over his ivory dress shirt to shield him from the nipping chill of early winter, his jet black tangles falling loosely about his pale face in a tousled mop, stray strands falling into his emerald green eyes which sat behind a pair of round-rimmed glasses.

"Sorry for my late arrival," He apologised as he followed Teddy into the room, gently shutting the door behind him. "I had to make sure everything at the office was covered by Ron before I could come."

After shredding his blazer, Teddy taking it gently and hanging it up on a small hook nailed into the door, Harry greeted the pair kindly, the males exchanging polite pleasantries before taking their seats, Teddy having snatched a chair from downstairs to seat his godfather on something other than his stiff bed.

"Well, Teddy, what have you asked me here for so urgently?" Harry asked with an arch of his eyebrows, a flash of worry rushing through his emerald orbs as he spoke. "Is everything alright?"

"It's complicated," He sighed nervously, his hair becoming moss green as he felt nausea rush over him at where the conversation would go, what he would admit. "But I have progressed in our investigation. Last night I developed a suspicion in what might have been behind the suspicious activity and this morning I found out for sure what was."

"Really? Congratulations, my boy," Harry beamed in approval, relief washing over him, unaware that Teddy's confessions had only just begun. "I had no idea you would finish so early! You should be proud!"

"I can't believe it, Teddy," Gunner grinned, punching his comrade in the arm playfully. "Although it would've been nice if you invited me along to figure it out with you. So how did you do it? Did you spend all night in the library looking for leads?"

Teddy glanced from Gunner to Harry, their eyes wide with excitement, their torsos leaning forward with interest, eager to learn how Teddy achieved this great feat. He gulped, his hair becoming an anxious deep orange, the grins of his companions suddenly dropping as they noticed his rapid mood change, their eyebrows arched in puzzlement.

"Actually, I found everything out by less conventional methods," He began, knitting his eyebrows together as he recalled the events of the night, his mind still hazy from his collision with the altar table in the attic, despite Anya's medical aid. "I had discovered a discrepancy in what Anya had told us a few months back, she had claimed her father was a Hufflepuff at the school named Virgil Romulus, but records showed no such student existed. So I went to confront her with it, curious as to if it was related to the investigation,"

"After having a not very pleasant conversation with her regarding my discovery, and an even less pleasant one with Victoire, I left the castle and saw something," He paused, glancing at Harry who narrowed his eyes at him curiously, clearly not shocked by Teddy's admittance to such a poor conversation with Victoire, whether it was because he already knew of their break-up or had anticipated it, Teddy didn't know. "I saw a creature; it looked like a wolf, only far bigger. I chased it into the Forbidden Forest, but I lost it amongst the trees. I was certain that was the creature from the reports."

"Did you figure out what kind of creature it was? How do you know it is connected?" Gunner enquired, his playful expression dropped into one of seriousness at Teddy's words. "A lot of creatures live in the Forbidden Forest, could it not have just been one of those?"

"I _know _it wasn't one of those." He challenged with a frown.

"How?" Harry prodded suspiciously.

"Because that creature was a werewolf," Teddy inhaled deeply, sighing as he exhaled, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say. "And I know because that werewolf confessed to me that it was behind the activity. I know because the werewolf is Anya-Jeanne Crafting and her mother is one too."

He noticed the shocked expressions that erupted across each man's features, their eyes wide with disbelief as they slumped back in their seats. Teddy gulped once again, running his fingers through his hair as he continued, bracing himself for what he was about to say.

"And that's only the beginning of what I found..."

* * *

><p>Teddy glanced from Harry to Gunner, their features knitting together in concentration as they processed all that he had said, all the words he had regurgitated from Anya, the truth of the whole situation. He had explained her mother's troubling past as she left Hogwarts, Anya's father's true identity and his plans for her mother, and finally what Anya really was, the undefined new breed of werewolf she was. His hair had leapt from colour to colour as he spoke, his emotions running wild with anxiety over what the pair would say, whether they would condemn her or sympathise with her.<p>

Although he had been dreading their responses, now that he had explained everything and they sat in a rigid, awkward silence, he desired nothing more than to know of what they thought, his body becoming more and more tense every second of silence that passed by. He closed his eyes, hunching his torso over as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to coax himself into deep breathing, trying to maintain his nerves. It was only when Gunner spoke that his head lifted from his hands, his ears perking up with interest.

"Is that really true?" He gawked in utter disbelief.

"Unfortunately, it is." Teddy muttered back.

"Do you think Headmistress Quackenbush knew? Do you think she accepted Anya in spite of what she is?" Gunner asked, his arms folded over his chest as he pursed his lips together, an expression of thought now spreading over his pale visage.

"She may have known. Albus Dumbledore accepted a student in spite of his condition, Teddy's father," Harry intercepted, his hands folded neatly in his lap as he spoke. "It is their duty as head of the school to educate and protect the magically gifted youths of the United Kingdom, regardless of any factors within their personal lives. But what the headmistress may have done is not our concern right now; right now we must decide what Teddy shall do."

"What do _you _think I should do? What would you advise me to do?" Teddy asked, glancing at his godfather with a look of silent pleading for his assistance. Harry nodded, as if answering his pleas, before speaking in a strong yet comforting voice.

"You must organise all of this information into a report, then you, Gunner, and I shall present it to the Ministry of Magic," He explained as the auror trainees listened intently. "Kingsley Shacklebolt will want to oversee this discovery and ensure it is not misused, so we must contact him as well, before handing the information off to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Then it will be out of our hands from there on."

"What will the department do with the information? With Anya and her mother?" Teddy felt dismayed over the answer he may get, dreading it would be exactly what he feared as he watched his godfather's expression fall into a solemn one.

"No doubt the Werewolf Capture Unit will be notified to collect Anya's mother before removing Anya herself from schooling to join her mother," Harry stated, his gaze unable to meet Teddy's horrified expression as he continued. "There her mother will be subjected to the Werewolf Registry to register her as a known werewolf. Then she will most likely be investigated further in terms of any possible involvement with illegal activity of unidentified werewolves or involvement with the Dark Lord's long deceased regime as she served under Fenrir Greyback. If she meets the unit with corporation, she could very well be released into the Werewolf Support Unit for any needed assistance, especially as she is magically inactive,"

"As for Anya, I am unsure as to where her future will lie, but I can speculate. She may or may not be added to the register as she is not the same class of werewolf as her mother and the others. From then on, she will most likely be confined to the Ministry for observation and investigation into what she is, whether she can be replicated by other werewolves, whether any children she may have would be similar, and whether any other abilities may develop," Sadness glinted in his eyes as he cleared his throat, reluctantly admitting one final thing. "Because you say her abilities are evolving and developing, she will most likely spend much of her life confined to the Ministry for observation. Any changes will be documented immediately and medically investigated and if she is released, she will be heavily monitored in case any such changes occur and to caution the wizarding public around her as her danger level is not yet known."

Teddy felt his gut twist, his godfather's honest words confirming his worst fears, a lump growing in his throat, paralysing his vocal cords as he struggled to respond. He replayed his words over and over in his mind, suddenly regaining control of his body as he realised one thing, he could never subject Anya to that and he never would.

"No!" He shouted in protest, his hands curled into large fists. "I won't let us do that to her. She doesn't want that for her or her mother and neither of them deserve to be subjected to that. She didn't want me coming here to tell you this, fearing exactly that would be said and I will _not _go back to her saying that's what will happen to her. I just won't."

"Teddy, it's our job to report what we have found. It is our job to protect people against possible threats–"

"Yes, it is our job to protect people, regardless of any personal conditions. Now we have to protect Anya and her mother, they are not dangerous nor do they intend to be, we cannot treat them as the bad guys in this whole scenario," Teddy interrupted furiously, enraged that his godfather would even suggest such a thing. "I will _not _let anyone do that to them, no matter who it is."

A small smile of approval spread across Harry's lips, his godfather clearly unprofessionally proud of Teddy's defiance.

"Very well then, Teddy, there is only one other option I can offer you," Harry's smile faltered, his grave expression returning. "But I will have to ask you to sacrifice your auror career for it. I will have to report this case as werewolf activity except the ministry will still want to investigate further. I can stall the report until Anya finishes her seventh year, but after that her mother and her will have to leave their home, we will have to completely wipe our records of them in this investigation so that the ministry will not go looking at them and we will have to wipe your involvement as well, regarding you as missing in action or deceased at the hands of the werewolf. Only Gunner, your grandmother, and I must know the truth and I must ensure that we can be strong enough occlumens to maintain the secret."

"I have been training along with my animagus training, so it should be sufficient. Otherwise Teddy's grandmother can help me along for the next few months until we have to report back to the ministry regarding the investigation," Gunner replied before glancing at Teddy. "It just depends on what Teddy wants to do."

"But, I'd have to give up my whole life, everything I've worked for..." Teddy murmured, burying his face in his hands as he struggled to gather his thoughts. "How can I do that?"

He would have to give up his dream, his entire life, to become just another young auror lost in the field. He would have to go somewhere no one would know his face or name with Anya in tow. He would have to take on a new appearance just to see his loved ones again, just to greet his grandmother and bundle her into a tight embrace. How could he abandon his whole life? How could he make that decision?

"Do you love her?" Gunner mused softly, his amber orbs glancing at Teddy knowingly.

"What do you mean?" He replied although he knew very well what his friend was awkwardly trying to say.

"Do you love Anya?" He corrected himself as Teddy drew his head from his hands, pondering his response carefully.

"Yes." Teddy whispered so lightly that the two men barely heard him, but Gunner's lips suddenly spread into a crooked grin, confirming that he had indeed heard the metamorphmagus.

"Then you and I both know what you should to do," He stated, his grin widening. "But that might just be my opinion; I'll still have your back no matter what you choose."

Teddy glanced from his closest friend to his godfather who nodded in agreement. It was all up to him now, it was his decision alone and those he cared for would support him no matter what. Now he just had to decide between his lifelong dream and his dream girl. He just had to hope that his decision would be the right one.


	17. The Wolf And His Moon

Well, here it is. The last chapter of The Wolf And His Moon. Wow. I'm kind of shocked. Don't really know what to say. I really didn't expect it to end so soon, but I knew it had to eventually and I have been writing a lot of it lately. Bah. I feel like I should burst into tears and be really over emotional about parting with my characters. xD Bahaha. Well I do love Teddy loads and I will miss him. BUT! I will be writing a one-shot, sort of like an epilogue to this that will detail what happens to the characters probably about ten years later and how he reflects on his decision, etc. So that should be cool. ^^ I'm totally rambling here, sorry. I just wanted to tell you that a one-shot will be coming.

Before I let you read this, I want to thank EmodinosaurX3 for the characters she made for this. They are amazing. Anya-Jeanne Crafting is brilliant, thank you so much for her. :D And you guys should go read her stuff. Seriously. She has a really great Harry Potter fanfiction up right now if you want one to read and others that she has finished. And a bunch of other stories worth reading for other fandoms. ^^ ANYWAY! I am shutting up now. Here we go.

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><p><em><strong>A Harry Potter Fanfiction <strong>_

_**THE WOLF AND HIS MOON**_

**Ted Remus Lupin/OC: Anya-Jeanne Crafting**

**17. **_The Wolf And His Moon_

The metal carriage glided along the tracks running through the blooming countryside, fields of violet blossoms stretching out as far as the eye could see through the thick dingy windows of the private compartment. Teddy glanced out over the beautiful vegetation with a look of awe spreading across his features, his arm propped up on the window ledge, his hand curled into a fist on which his jaw rested. His lips were pursed together as he slowly lost himself in his thoughts, losing himself in the absolute loveliness of the summer countryside.

He felt at peace, the decision he had made all those months ago finally coming into effect. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew he had made the right decision, he had to sacrifice this one thing just to keep everything else he needed and although his heart ached furiously at first, he knew it simply had to be the right choice. He would always miss what he had back then, but he would never wish to change what he chose, never wish to give up the wonderful future that was ahead of him.

As he lost himself in his thoughts, he could not help but see the similarities between his position now and his one from almost a year ago on a muggle train out to a dingy little village, struggling to hide his metamorphmagus ability out in public as he was submerged in his thoughts. But now in the privacy of the compartment, he was free to think as wildly as he wished, his hair bounding from colour to colour as he shifted from thought to thought, not having to fear the repercussions of a muggle sighting such magical behaviour.

"You should really stay out of your mind, Teddy." A voice mirrored the words that were said to him nearly a year ago, breaking him free of his thoughts.

Teddy glanced at the figure sitting across from him, a wizarding newspaper held in their hands, shadowing their identity with animated images littered across the parchment. He arched an eyebrow in amusement at his companion, a smile on his lips as he spoke.

"And why is that exactly?" He asked, his hair returning to its charcoal colour once again, his eyes azure blue with questioning.

"Because you're missing the whole world out there," The newspaper lowered, fully exposing his companion's features. "It's just waiting for you to see it."

Teddy reached forward, grasping one of her small hands in his large one, squeezing it tightly as a charm bracelet dangled about her wrist–holding only one charm, a black cat–the touch of her flesh against his reassuring him that he would never regret his decision as he scanned over her features. Her plump, crimson lips were pulled into a smile, her wide sky blue orbs staring into his affectionately, a beauty mark dotted below her left eye. Her pinpoint-straight, silky ebony locks fell to her mid-back, framing her curvaceous figure with side-swept bangs falling along her thin eyebrows.

Her chest was compressed into an ivory tank top that revealed a sliver of cleavage to him from her developed bust before dipping to frame her tiny waist, the hem rising above her navel to reveal the diamond stud pierced through it. A pair of jean shorts clung to her rear, the hems frayed; exposing her fair slender legs to Teddy with her feet slipped into pale-coloured ballet flats. Between the end of her shirt and the top of her shorts Teddy could see a small tattoo of a jet black kitten sporting a violet witch's hat on her right hip, clearly revealing her love of black cats to him, along with the fact that she practically loved her raven-coloured little cat, Romy, as much as she loved Teddy himself.

"And we will see it," He chimed, mirroring her smile as he leaned towards her, cupping her jaw in his free hand. "I promise."

"I know," She replied gently, sighing as he caressed her cherub cheek with the bud of his thumb. "But I'll still hold you to that promise. I can't wait to start travelling."

"Just wait for us to settle in," Teddy reminded her. "Then I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

With that, he pressed his lips to her tenderly, their lips moving in unison, forming a passionate kiss. He threaded his fingers through her hair, nearly sliding completely off of his seat as he leaned over her, closing the gap between their bodies.

"You had better be prepared to fly us wherever I want to go on your broom," She murmured as they parted, panting lightly. "Or else we'll actually have to have _money _to pay for transport."

"We will have money, but I'm happy to fly us," He grinned playfully. "You just have to try and not distract me, so you had better keep your hands to yourself."

"Oh yes, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to pry myself off of you." She scoffed sarcastically, rolling her eyes playfully before he crashed his lips into hers once again, silencing her mockery.

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><p>Teddy felt his legs ache, having walked far from civilisation into a thick forest towards his new home with Anya wrapped in his arms, wondering if she shared his agony considering her legs were far shorter than his as he stood nearly a foot taller than her. He remembered a similar journey, instead heading towards a decaying cottage where he would meet the beautiful girl cradled in his arms nearly a year ago, an unsuspecting aspiring auror whose whole world was turned upside down. After he had decided that he would choose Anya over his career, he told her immediately, informing her of everything they would have to do as soon as she finished her year at Hogwarts–which she had done a few days ago–and she had easily agreed.<p>

Her mother, however, was not so compliant, instead opting to remain in her home and take responsibility for the activity, to be placed on a register identifying her as a werewolf before being transferred to _St Mungo's Hosptal for Magical Maladies and Injuries_. She said she wanted to repent for her sins against her daughter, to save her from the Ministry by sacrificing herself and she could not handle a far move from their rundown home, far too frail, far too ill. Thus she was accepted into the hospital to be cared for day and night, to be made as comfortable as possible in her fragile mental state and–after a lot of begging on her mother's part–Anya agreed for her to take responsibility for the sightings of Anya.

A break in the forest appeared as a clearing opened up before them with a large yet quaint cottage settled in the middle, not a single sign of decay in sight. It was made up of ashen-coloured stone with a dark roof with Victorian-styled windows placed in the stone. Its location was protected by the Fidelius charm–along with the thick forest for Anya to roam freely in–with Gunner Macmillan, Teddy's closest friend, as the secret keeper whilst both Teddy's grandmother and his godfather, Harry Potter, also knew of their new home's location, acting as secondary secret keepers.

Anya grinned from ear to ear with delight as Teddy felt relief wash over him, pleased that she was so happy with the home he had picked out for them whilst she was studying for her N.E.W.T.s. She wrapped her arms around his middle, embracing him tightly, confirming her approval along with her toothy grin.

"I love it," She exclaimed, breaking free from him and scurrying towards the cottage. "It's absolutely adorable!"

"I'm glad," He beamed with a chuckle, following her as she stood by the front door impatiently, like a little kid at Christmas, desperate to know what was hidden within the beautiful house. "Just wait until you see the interior. And don't worry; I made sure Romy would be here when you arrived."

"Thank you." She lifted herself onto the tips of her toes, pecking him on the lips before quickly turning her attention to the door as he unlocked it.

As soon as he withdrew himself from the lock, she burst through the door into the house, her eyes the size of dinner plates in shock. Even he had to admit it was impressive, he had outdone himself with the interior–although he had a lot of help from his grandmother–and couldn't help but feel proud of himself as Anya raced about the house, inspecting every room with as big a grin as when she first saw the cottage. Romy trotted after her, meowing with excitement as he explored his new home alongside his owner whilst Teddy simply made his way towards the lounge, settling upon the plush couch to allow Anya to tire herself out.

It was best that he didn't try to interfere when she got _this _excited.

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><p>"I am exhausted." Anya sighed, collapsing onto the couch after unpacking all of her belongings, finally settled into their new home.<p>

"I'm surprised you're not out cold seeing as you ran the length of the house about ten times when we first got here." Teddy teased playfully, ruffling his hand through her hair.

"At least I didn't spend all day on the couch like you." She taunted back as he dropped his hand, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she snuggled into his figure, resting her head on his chest.

She pulled her legs onto the sofa, folding them as she cuddled Teddy tight, one of his arms draped around her as the other traced shapes on her exposed flesh with the buds of his fingers. She sighed, nuzzling into his chest with her eyes falling shut peacefully as he held her tighter, unable to fight back a smile. He couldn't regret a life like this with moments like these.

"Do you think you will ever regret choosing me, Teddy?" She piped in almost a whisper as if she had read his mind–although Teddy wouldn't be surprised if she had as she had developed her skills at wandless legilimency further since he had first witnessed her using the mind invading magic.

"Are you having a poke around in my mind again?" He asked jokingly.

"No," She snapped, slapping him in the stomach and would have no doubt rolled her eyes if they were not closed. "I was just wondering."

"Honestly, I will not regret this," He replied gently in an honest tone. "I wouldn't choose something I could ever see myself regretting. I _knew _I would regret it if I did _not _choose you. I would choose you over and over again if I had to."

"Would you ever not choose me? Just to see what would happen, to see if maybe you would be okay without me?"

"Of course not, because I know the answer to that already," He stated firmly. "And I don't want to think about what could have been; I want to think about what we have now and what we will have in the future."

He planted a kiss on her forehead before she smiled once again, satisfied with his response as she relaxed in his arms, falling into a deep slumber. Romy soon joined them, curling up next to Anya, curling himself into a small mound of ebony fur before snoozing away. Teddy knew what he had said was true, all of it, he wouldn't have chosen anything he would ever possibly regret and he knew from the start that he'd never regret choosing Anya. He needed her more than anything, she made him feel completely different from how anyone else had, she not only made him feel happy, but she made him feel alive. Whilst he made her feel safe, he made her feel protected, he made her feel accepted and he made her feel loved.

The complete and utter truth of it–although Anya may have been too embarrassed to admit it at that moment–was that he _lived_ for her and he knew she lived for him too, like the wolf and his moon.


End file.
